As pets and humans bond and become more familiar with each other, scientists say, synchronicity strengthens.
The brain activity of dogs and their human companions can be synchronised when they look at each other, according to a new study.
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During social interaction between people, the activity of their neurons is known to synchronize, especially in the frontal lobe of the brain, indicating that they are paying attention to each other.
The researchers say that similar synchronisation can be induced by looking at each other between humans and dogs.
The study, published in the journal Advanced Science, also showed that stroking leads to synchronization of the parietal region, which is also associated with attention.
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As pets and humans bond and become more familiar with each other, scientists say, synchronicity becomes stronger.
For the purpose of the study, the researchers assigned 10 beagle dogs to unfamiliar people for five days and analyzed the EEG brain signals of the dogs and the people.
For comparison, a control group that also included humans and dogs also stayed in the same room, but without interaction.
“The strength of the synchrony increased as the familiarity of the human-dog pair increased over five days,” the study showed.
The analysis showed that the human brain activity led, while the dog followed.
Previous studies have shown that when a person takes care of their dog, specific areas of the human brain are activated, because the person pays attention to the pet to which they are emotionally attached. This is the first time the same activity has been shown to be mirrored in a dog’s brain.
But some genetic mutations, which have similar characteristics to autism spectrum disorder, can cause dogs to show symptoms of social dysfunction, researchers say.
In the case of these dogs, there may be a loss of synchronization of brain activity, as well as a decrease in attention during interactions.
“Dogs with mutations in the Shank3 gene, which is a promising complementary animal model for autism spectrum disorders, show a loss of brain-to-brain coupling and impaired attention,” the researchers said. In this case, a treatment with psychedelic LSD can reverse this disease, they found.
“There are two implications of the current study: one is that disrupted cross-brain synchronization can be used as a biomarker for autism,” said Yong Zhang, one of the authors of the study from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. in Beijing.
“Another is that LSD or its derivatives may improve the social symptoms of autism,” he added.