Do you ever catch yourself just looking at your dog and thinking about how brilliant they are?
It’s something many of us pet parents find ourselves doing, but new research indicates that it could have some benefits for both ourselves and our pups – even if you might wonder whether your dog is actually thinking about the best dog treats rather than how much they love their family!
It’s the first time neural coupling between different species has been witnessed, and we’ll get into what that actually means below. The research was conducted by scientists in China and published in Advanced Science last month.
Previously, neural coupling – in other words, the brain activity of two or more individuals aligning during an interaction – had only been observed during interactions between members of the same species. In humans, it’s usually in response to a conversation or story, but it’s also been witnessed in mice, bats, and other primates, too.
It’s thought that neural coupling is important in shaping responses during social encounters and results in complex behavior that wouldn’t be seen in isolation, like enhancing teamwork or learning.
And the study’s findings may help us understand the human-canine relationship and bond better. We domesticated dogs around 30,000 years ago, with dogs being among the first animals to be domesticated, and they’ve been committed companions and colleagues for many of us ever since. Over the generations, dogs have developed skills like the ability to recognize and respond to our emotional state.
In the study, the researchers used headgear that contains electrodes to detect neural signals, looking at what happens to these signals when dogs and people are isolated from each other but in the presence of each other – just not looking at each other.
Human and dog were then allowed to interact with one another, and when they gazed at each other and the human stroked the dog, their brain signals synchronized. Dogs and people who became more familiar with each other over the study had increased synchronization, displaying parallels with previous studies of human-human interactions which had similar results.
There’s still a lot for us to learn about the relationship between human and canine, particularly when it comes to neural coupling. However, we do know that gazing into our dogs’ eyes could help our brain signals synchronize and make our connection stronger – and the more familiar you are with your pup, the stronger the connection is likely to become.
So, the next time you find yourself gazing into your dog’s eyes, why not hold it there for a while? It could just be making your bond even better.
If you’d like to know more about how to make your bond with your pup stronger, here’s how to read dog body language.
