What Happens in a Dog's Brain When He Sees His Owner?
It’s widely known that the relationship between a dog and his owner is truly unique and special. What is it that happens in the canine brain when a dog sees his owner?
A study conducted by the University of Mexico aimed to show exactly that: the feelings of a dog in the presence of his owner.
The study on the canine brain
To carry out this study, they used five Collies, a Golden Retriever and a Labrador Retriever. They gave all of them a kind of magnetic resonance while undergoing the tests.
The dogs were subjected to a simple test: seeing images of humans and many inanimate objects.
The result was that when looking at the latter, the animals had no reaction, but looking at the images of humans, the dogs’ brains were “illuminated.”
According to experts, “this portion of the temporal cortex in dogs could be anatomically and functionally similar to those regions found in other species, such as humans.”
What this means is that dogs use a part of their brain similar to the part that humans use to detect faces. According to the study, there were “explosions” of activity in the subcortical regions, while there was no movement from seeing inanimate objects.
So contrary to what is believed about dogs, they not only recognize us by our smell, but they’re also able to detect our features. Yes, your dog knows what your face is like and recognizes it from far away. Curious, right?
Until one has loved an animal a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.
-Antole France-
This proves why your animal feels very happy to see you, while not with other people. Your pet is able to walk down the street looking at others without batting an eye, but as soon as he sees you, his happiness overflows.
Other interesting studies
The more studies they do with pets, the more we realize the great benefits of having one. Today we will recall some of these studies that show this.
- They help fight stress. According to a study conducted on the topic, pets help us to combat stress. We don’t need therapy or pills, nor anything else, just some leisure time with our furry friends. In fact, taking our pet to work also helps us fight against stress.
- Dogs as therapy. Dogs can serve as therapy animals for people of all ages. People benefit from a rise in self-esteem, finding purpose in life, and improved mobility.
- They make us happier. This study that showed that having an animal at home makes us happier is worth reading. According to scientists, there are many benefits reported from having a pet and increasing our happiness, such as less stress, more exercise and feeling loved.
- They love us like family. They say that blood is what makes relatives, but love is what makes us family. We don’t have the same blood as our pets, because that’s impossible, but they do love us like family by the reciprocal love we feel toward each other.
There are many studies showing that a pet is beneficial for our health and the health of our family. Therefore, what can we do for them? Nothing except being grateful for them and giving them all of our love and affection, as well as our understanding.
Animals don’t deserve to receive more than what they give us: unconditional love and loyalty without bounds.