Emily Chan
By petting your dog and gazing into their eyes, you can synchronize your brain with theirs, according to scientists.
In the past, this kind of synchronization of brain waves, known as interbrain activity coupling, has been seen in human interactions and interactions between humans and members of other species.
Now, it has been observed in human and dog pairs. It is the first time that synchronized brain activity was detected between two individuals of different species.
“This study is the first to report and characterize interbrain activity coupling during cross-species interactions. Our results show that the strength, direction, and attention-associated brain regions of the interbrain activity coupling during human-dog interactions are similar to those during human-human interactions,” wrote the study authors.
For over 30,000 years, dogs have been “man’s best friend.” It is believed their domestication happened when certain wolves started interacting with human societies of hunter-gatherers.
As wolves were domesticated, they became more docile, social, and trainable. They also developed a greater tolerance for human presence.
According to the authors, dogs have evolved to understand and respond to a diverse range of human emotional states and communication signals. They can read behaviors, facial expressions, and vocal tones. However, the neural mechanisms behind the communication between dogs and humans have remained unclear.
Brain activity tends to synchronize in areas such as the frontal and parietal regions in human-to-human pairs, as well as in pairs of bats, mice, and nonhuman primates. Both of these brain regions are associated with joint attention.
The researchers used wireless electroencephalograms on humans and dogs interacting with each other by looking into each other’s eyes. They discovered that synchronization occurred between the two species.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
