Spending quality time with dogs can reduce a person’s stress and anxiety levels, a small study has found.
Scientists scanned the brains of 30 people as they groomed, fed and played with a four-year-old poodle – and found they “reported feeling significantly less fatigued, depressed and stressed after all dog-related activities”.
The brain activity of 15 men and 15 women aged 20 and above was measured with an electroencephalogram (EEG) as part of the study, with the results published in the journal Plos One.
The group met, played with, fed, groomed, massaged, photographed, hugged and walked with the “friendly and well-trained” female poodle, with each activity lasting around three minutes.
The researchers from Konkuk University in South Korea found that the EEG detected alpha brainwaves when people played with and walked the dog – “reflecting a state of relaxed wakefulness”.
Grooming or gently massaging the poodle saw an increase in beta brainwaves, which are associated with heightened concentration.
The authors wrote: “This study demonstrated that specific dog activities could activate stronger relaxation, emotional stability, attention, concentration, and creativity by facilitating increased brain activity.”
Commenting on the study, Dr Jacqueline Boyd, a senior lecturer in animal science at Nottingham Trent University, said the results were “unlikely to be a surprise to canine caregivers”.
“To have quantitative measurement of brain activity in people during direct interactions of different types with dogs, further adds to our understanding of the human-dog relationship,” she said.
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However, she questioned the findings by pointing out that the recruitment of the study’s participants was biased towards those who were already happy to interact with the dog.
She said: “Suggestions that all interactions with all dogs will benefit all people are to be viewed with caution”.
Dr Boyd added: “The novelty of involvement in a study with a friendly dog should also be highlighted as a potential limitation of the data.
“However, the reporting of measured physiological responses during canine interactions does suggest that there is some consistency in the biological basis of human-dog interactions that might be beneficial in therapeutic encounters.”
