WASHINGTON. The special bond between man and his best friend, the dog, lies in a hormonal process that is activated when viewed and is similar to that between a mother and her son, according to a study published today in the journal Science .
A research team led by Miho Nagasawa , Japanese Azabu University, has shown how the look between the dog and its owner fires in both oxytocin levels in the brain, a hormone related to sexual patterns and paternal and maternal behavior.
Oxytocin also acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain and is considered to have an important role in the recognition and establishment of social bonds and the formation of trust relationships between people.
To conduct this research, scientists put in a room with several dogs with their owners and documented every interaction between them for 30 minutes.
Then measured the levels of oxytocin in both the urine of dogs and their owners in and found that sustained eye contact between them raised hormone levels in the brains of both.
In a second experiment, the researchers sprayed oxytocin in the noses of some dogs and placed in a room with their owners and some unknown.
The animals responded by increasing time watching their owners and, after half an hour, oxytocin levels rose by owners of dogs treated.
As the wolves do not have this same response, even when they have been bred by humans, researchers suggest in their study that this mechanism of connection between man and the dog was forged during the domestication of animals.
“The same connection mechanism, based on the increase of oxytocin to look, it strengthens the emotional bonds between mothers and their children, also helps regulate the relationship between dogs and their owners, “concludes the investigation.
No comments:
Post a Comment