March 30, 2024 New Study Confirms: Dogs Really Are Man’s Best Friend
New Study Confirms: Dogs Really Are Man’s Best Friend
Dogs have been labelled “man’s best friend” for centuries, and a new study proves there’s science behind that adage.
By simply spending quality time with our four-legged pals—playing fetch, going for walks, or giving belly rubs—we can supercharge our brains while calming our minds.
How Do Dogs Help People?
Dogs have been faithful companions to humans for over 30,000 years, since they were first domesticated. They have assisted people in numerous ways, including hunting, working, herding, and guarding. Moreover, the research team noted, dogs communicate with their human companions and “share emotions beyond that of an efficient assistant.”What is it about dogs that creates such a strong bond with humans? What aspects of interacting with dogs help regulate our emotions and mental state? These were the questions a research team from South Korea sought to answer.
The study involved 30 South Korean adults—15 men and 15 women—with an average age of 27.9 years. The dog participant was a four-year-old female standard poodle with a compatible personality, fully trained in basic obedience, manners, aggression management, and sociability.
Unlike typical studies that compare participants’ moods or hormone levels before and after interacting with an animal, this research took a different approach. It examined the psychophysiological and emotional responses during eight different activities between humans and dogs, to understand the impact of each activity.
These activities included meeting, playing, feeding, massaging, grooming, photographing, hugging, and walking the dog. Participants wore electrodes to measure their brain activity in the prefrontal, frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes while engaging with the dog.
The results showed that participants felt more relaxed and achieved a significantly better resting state after playing with or walking the dog. Furthermore, they were able to concentrate better and without stress after massaging, grooming, and playing with the dog.
Participants also reported feeling significantly less fatigued, depressed, and stressed after all eight dog-related activities.
The study demonstrated that specific dog activities could “activate stronger relaxation, emotional stability, attention, concentration, and creativity by facilitating increased brain activity.”
“Our study demonstrates that animal interaction activities, such as playing, walking, massaging, and grooming dogs, have a positive effect by facilitating increased brain activity in healthy participants,” the research team wrote.
More Research Behind Dog Therapy
Despite the potential bias in the study, animal-assisted interventions, such as canine therapy, are often used in clinical and educational settings to help reduce anxiety, relieve stress, and establish feelings of trust.Other ways dog therapy can benefit humans include bringing comfort, developing behavioral or social skills, improving motor skills or movement ability, increasing motivation, and reducing pain levels.
In essence, having a dog improves a person’s overall health, including their physical well-being. This may be one reason why dogs are the most popular pet in the U.S., with more than 65.1 million households owning a dog.
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