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| Image via Buzzfeed |
Nothing is stronger than the bond between a mother and
child... and between dog and human? Although I have not personally experienced motherhood, I recently added
a new family member; a four-month-old rescue puppy named Linus (after one of
my role models and great chemical engineers, Linus
Pauling). When he looks into my eyes my heart melts a little, and I just
want to scoop him up and hug him. These feelings are helping me understand why people refer
to their dogs as “fur babies,” showering them with toys, treats, costumes, and
even pushing them in strollers.
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| My new puppy, Linus |
Now science explains why dogs really are “Man’s Best
Friend.” When people refer to their dogs as their kids, they aren’t too far
off. A new study in Science shows
that humans and dogs actually share a unique bond, mediated through the love
hormone, oxytocin. What makes dogs so special to us, and how did this symbiotic
relationship begin?
Dogs were the first animal to be domesticated by humans
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| Image credit Dan Burr via Flickr |
The dog-human relationship has a long history.
Dogs were domesticated by humans before any other plant or animal, including
food crops or livestock like horses and cattle. Scientists know that dogs
evolved from the gray wolf, however they are still trying to figure out where
and when they became friends with humans. The consensus among scientists is
that dogs and humans began their relationship somewhere between 15,000 and
30,000 years ago during the Paleolithic era.
Charles Darwin, the man responsible for the theory of
evolution, theorized that dogs initiated their relationship with humans,
following them to scavenge their leftover animal carcasses and scraps. Eventually, dogs evolved to
be more and more trusting of humans. The less fearful and friendlier dogs lived
longer, evolving to become the human-like pets we know today
that sit on our furniture, ride in cars, coexist (hopefully) with our other
pets, and understand our language; although, we must remember they still have
some wolf-like instincts from their ancient ancestors.
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| Image via quickmeme.com |
Dogs have evolved to be the most responsive animal to human
body language. For example, dogs are the only animal that understand what
humans mean when they point at something with their hand - “look at that.” They
respond to human cues and words, along with eye contact. Not even other
primates can understand our complicated social cues to that extent. Why are dogs so unique in this aspect? A new study
from researchers in Japan shows the feelings of companionship we have towards
dogs are a result of direct eye contact.
Dogs manipulate the human feelings by staring at us
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| Image credit: B Rosen via Flickr |
Increased levels of oxytocin are positively associated with increased social behavior towards both humans and other dogs. According to several studies, after dogs and their owners interact, oxytocin levels increased in both the dog and its owner. The Japanese researchers, however, showed that oxytocin increased the most after dogs and their owners share a mutual gaze for a sustained period of time, more than talking or touching.
To further solidify their findings, the researchers also artificially
administered oxytocin to dogs and then had them interact with their owners. Dogs given oxytocin stared at their owners more than the dogs not
administered oxytocin. Following the interaction, the dogs given oxytocin and
their owners both showed an increased production of the hormone after the
interaction. This suggests something known as a positive feedback loop, meaning that the more oxytocin present, the
more gazing, and the more oxytocin is produced. In other words, it’s like a
snowball effect, the more you and your dog stare at each other, the more love
there is and the more you want to stare at each other.
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| A dog and owner gazing at each other |
The special bond between a dog and its human is unique to its owner. Researchers also observed dogs interacting with humans who were not
their owners, and oxytocin levels were unchanged. Not only is oxytocin production
unique to the owner, it is unique to dogs as a species. Wolves reared by humans were studied along with their owners, and no relationship was observed between eye contact
and oxytocin levels.
All of these observations suggest dogs
have a unique neurological pathway specific to human bonding, which
they have evolved over tens of thousands of years with us. They have also
evolved to have adorable child-like characteristics to give us the “feels” for
them, to put it unscientifically. These findings could also explain why aggressive behavior of dogs towards humans is correlated to their interactions with humans and not their breed. My only question is, why am I attached to my
cat in a similar way, and when will he and my dog become friends?
Human health benefits from furry companions
Oxytocin is currently studied as a treatment for several
mental disorders associated with decreased levels of the hormone. To treat
these diseases, researchers are artificially administering
oxytocin to improve social symptoms of disorders like autism and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Understanding how dogs can chemically alter our brains gives us an
understanding of how and why service animals are beneficial. Assistance dogs
can stimulate the production of oxytocin in people suffering from mental disorders.
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| Image via The Daily Republic |
Oxytocin has also been studied to treat other
mental disorders like depression, anxiety, and stress. More research is needed
to understand more about this link, but for now I will take it as a sign to
spend more quality time with my newest 4-legged friend, especially when I am stressed out. So at the end of the
day, it might be mentally beneficial to take your furry friend on a walk or
jog, play some ball, snuggle on the couch… or just stare at each other.
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| Image via Giphy |
Cheers to your brain and thanks for reading!
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Thanks for your post. I’ve been thinking about writing a very comparable post over the last couple of weeks, I’ll probably keep it short and sweet and link to this instead if thats cool. Thanks. my dog sits like a human
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