Affection towards pets and the human brain’s perception of them as children

Affection towards pets and the human brain’s perception of them as children The latest neurobiological research closely looks at the basis of both kinds of relationships; i.e. with pets and with children. Many people in this world have some of the closest relationships with their pets (cats, dogs, rabbits, spiders, etc). Some even grow up with their pets while many get pets later in their lives and still get attached to them as if blood relatives. People without pets would usually find these relationships senseless; however, the ones with pets would rather believe differently.

Today, a growing number of people are open and happy about expressing their love and strong feelings for animals. They post their pictures on social media and even write about their love and affection for their pets. Increasing scientific evidence proves the credibility of these emotional connections. The latest study about these emotional connections examines the neurological activity that goes in the brains of women when they see their kids and their pets.

The study included sixteen women who had children between the ages of two to ten years old and also had a pet dog who had been in the family for at least two years. After visiting their houses and having them fill out a questionnaire that judged their affection and liking of their own child and the pet, pictures were taken of them and the women were called into a neuroimaging lab. There, an MRI machine was used to sense the neurological activity in the mothers’ brains when they were shown the images of their children and the pet dog.

Judging from the neurohormonal activity (activities of the love, attachment and maternal instincts hormones such as oxytocin), very exciting results were found. According to the results, the part of the brain associated with affiliation, reward, visual processing, social interaction and emotion showed responses of equal magnitude when the women saw the picture of their pet or child. However, the brain’s temporal lobe (associated to the facial recognition) showed more activity when the women saw the dog’s picture as compared to the picture of the child; while the part of the brain related to bonding and affection only reacted when they saw their child’s photo.

Although the study was conducted on a small scale and may not be applicable to a large audience, the results did show that the parts of their brain that reacted to the sight of their child, also reacted to the images of their pet dogs. However, the study can only be true for American women too. The study could prove differently across different cultures and races.

Related Article: http://www.researchomatic.com/New-Research/Love-the-Pet-29324.html