Dog owners know that being close to their pet can be balm for the soul.
Can a stuffed animal have a similar effect?
Researchers from Basel have investigated this.
Dogs as pets can often not only ensure a more positive attitude towards life in the family.
Human well-being could also improve through interaction with dogs.
A study from Switzerland has shown that petting dogs triggers very specific reactions in the human brain.
And much stronger reactions than stroking a stuffed animal, as the German Press Agency (dpa) reported on the study in autumn 2022.
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Dog owners know that the closeness of their four-legged friend can be balm for the soul.
(icon picture)
© Alberto Menendez/Imago
The researchers at the University of Basel reported in 2022 that the prefrontal cortex, which contributes to the regulation and processing of social and emotional interactions, is affected.
This shows that in therapies to reduce stress and depression, for example, real animals cannot easily be replaced by artificial animals, wrote the team led by psychologist Rahel Marti in the journal PLOS
ONE
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Study: Real dog hits stuffed animal in brain reaction
According to dpa, the scientists had measured the brain activity of 19 men and women when they either looked at a real dog or a similarly sized plush lion, cuddled their legs or stroked them.
The stuffed animal had a filled hot-water bottle in its stomach to have about the same temperature as the dog.
As was shown, brain activity in the area increased when handling both the real animal and the stuffed animal, but significantly more in the dog.
The difference was particularly large during the most intensive contact, stroking.
With each further contact with the real dog, brain activity continued to increase - but not with further contact with the stuffed animal, as the dpa report on the study states.
The psychologist and her colleagues suspected that this could have something to do with the development of a social bond with the real animal.
There were no significant differences in brain activity between male and female study participants.
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bond between human and dog
The higher brain activity continued after contact with a dog, even if it was no longer there.
The news agency also reported that this effect was less pronounced with the stuffed animals.
The study shows that "interactions with a dog may activate more attention processes and cause greater emotional arousal than comparable non-living stimuli," according to the authors, according to dpa.
However, the results would first have to be confirmed in larger analyses, and they should initially be interpreted with caution, partly because of the small number of subjects.
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Other studies have shown that positive interactions with dogs release the hormone oxytocin, which can play a role in bonding.
Researchers from Japan also found in a study that even dogs themselves can shed tears associated with positive emotions.
List of rubrics: © Alberto Menendez/Imago