Petting a Furry Companion: Enhancing Your Brain's Functions or Just a Pleasant Pastime?
Are you lounging next to your beloved furry friends, stroking their coats, and wondering how your brain's reacting? If so, you might be surprised! A recent study published in the journal PLOS ONE, has revealed that while interacting with man's best friend is certainly delightful, it does not improve the function of your prefrontal cortex, a brain region responsible for cognitive and emotional processes.
So, why is this discovery significant? Lead researcher, Rahel Marti, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Clinical Psychology and Animal-Assisted Intervention at the University of Basel, Switzerland, explains that this new finding provides further proof of therapeutic interactions between people and animals potentially benefiting both cognitive and emotional brain activity.
According to her, if patients with motivation and emotional difficulties demonstrate increased emotional engagement in activities involving dogs, these activities could boost their chances of learning and achieving treatment goals.
The findings on dogs add to existing research on the benefits of animal-assisted therapy in medically supervised neurorehabilitation for conditions such as stroke, epilepsy, brain injury, and infections.
Marti and her team employed functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a portable brain scanner that can be used in natural environments, to monitor the brain activity of 19 participants as they observed and interacted with one of three living dogs: a Jack Russell Terrier, a Golden Retriever, and another Golden Retriever. The participants began the test by observing the dog from a distance, then sat beside it, and finally, stroked its fur.
The researchers found that stroking a live dog increased activity in the region of the brain responsible for thought and emotional reactions. However, the brain activity was more significantly enhanced when human participants stroked the real dog's fur than when stroke its stuffed counterpart.
Marti believes emotional engagement to be a central mechanic driving the brain activity in human-animal interactions, suggesting that pets may elicit fewer emotions. The study's findings agree with past research that reported increased brain activity when participants engaged with live animals, such as rabbits, guinea pigs, cats, dogs, and horses.
"Positive nonverbal cues and reciprocal interactions with living animals could partly explain the difference," proposes Dr. Tiffany Braley, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Michigan, who has studied the relationship between pet ownership and cognitive health.
"As further studies with larger human populations with specific neurological disorders are required, the present research can offer insights into the type, intensity, and frequency of animal interaction necessary to achieve desired physiological or psychological outcomes for future animal-assisted neurorehabilitation interventions," concludes Braley, who was not involved in the new study.
Additional Resources
The present study couples with existing research on the benefits of animal-assisted therapy in medically supervised neurorehabilitation for neurological conditions like stroke, epilepsy, brain injury, and infections. This research provides further evidence that therapeutic in-vivo interactions between humans and animals can potentially enhance cognitive and emotional brain activity.
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