Many dog people will tell you that nothing compares to coming home to a happy, tail-wagging pooch. Increasingly, researchers are discovering neurological evidence lending support to the idea that dogs are among man’s best friends.
In a study released on October 5, Rahel Marti and other researchers from the University of Basel in Switzerland compared the brain scans of people either looking at or petting a real-life dog to petting a stuffed lion with the same weight and temperature.
Across all 19 participants, interactions with a real-life dog showed larger prefrontal brain activity.
Moreover, those who petted the dog showed more neural activity than those who merely looked at the dog. Over time, the neural activity increased while interacting with the dogs, which may be due to eventual bonding.
According to researchers, this “indicates that interactions with a dog might activate more attentional processes and elicit stronger emotional arousal than compared to nonliving stimuli.”
Other studies have addressed the positive effects dogs can have on an owner’s mental health and well-being. A 2021 study published by Dr. Janet Hoy-Gerlach found that emotional support animals can improve chronic mental health conditions over time.
Both of these studies seemingly provide evidence for the benefit of emotional support animals (ESAs). ESAs are animals that allegedly provide companionship to those with mental health challenges, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, and depression.
Similar to Seeing Eye dogs or other service animals, emotional support animals are often allowed in public spaces with an ESA letter.
Emotional support animals have remained a controversial subject in recent years as questions have been raised about what type of animals can qualify and where such animals are allowed.
Reports have identified that ESAs can sometimes be poorly trained and, in some cases, even attack people. For example, in 2017, Marlin Jackson was attacked by an ESA dog while onboard an aircraft, resulting in a face injury that required 28 stitches.
Moreover, some pet owners have allegedly used ESA legislation as a loophole to ride alongside their dogs when traveling with commercial airlines.
Concerns led the Department of Transportation to crack down on ESAs in airplanes, and the agency has issued new guidance for passengers that delineate between emotional support animals and psychological service animals.
Regardless of the ongoing debate over ESAs, recent studies suggest that dog owners can go home and pet their precious pup to be happier, emotionally healthier, and engage the social brain.