http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/...1-078b69f1f800WASTEBOOK 2014
NIH Asks if Moms Love
Dogs as Much as Kids
$371,026
Mothers have the same reaction when look
ing at photos of their dogs as they do to those
of their own kids, according to recent govern
ment-funded research published this year.
The unique relationship between man and
his pets is nothing new. “Humans began do
mesticating dogs to serve in a variety of roles,
including as human companion or ‘pets’, 18,000-
32,000 years ago,” the authors wrote in their
study.
“Approximately 2/3 of U.S. households
have pets, and over $50 billion is spent annu
ally on their care...Many people have a strong
emotional attachment to their pets...half of pet
owners consider their pet as much a part of the
family as any member of the household.”
Science has already shown “very similar
results for human infants’ and dogs’ behaviors
with their mother or owner have been described
under high and low stress conditions.”
And, bonding has “been implicated in human-human
and owner-dog pairs.”But apparently never had mothers’ brains
been monitored while viewing photos of their
kids and dogs. This new study was described by
the scientists as “the first report of a compari
son of fMRI-related brain activation patterns in
women when they viewed images of their child
and dog.”
Participating moms were solicited “via ad
vertisement in local media, veterinary clinics,
dog parks” and a hospital research program.
Dogs and children were first “photographed in
the participants’ home.”
Mothers were then shown a series of dog and child photos from
other participants in the study, as well as pho
tos of their own.
As they looked at each, their
brains were monitored with an MRI scanner.
“Mothers reported similar emotional ratings
for their child and dog, which elicited greater pos
itive emotional responses than unfamiliar chil
dren and dogs,” and their brains acted in similar
ways in viewing both their own kids and dogs.
228
Two of the scientists performing the study
received a combined total of $371,026 from the
National Institutes of Health this year, money in
tended for work in addiction research.
Their next step is to include “more people
and look at how men and women without chil
dren reacted to photos of babies and pets as
well.”
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