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Do our animal companions love us back? Here’s what the neuroscience says!
In a dog’s brain, the limbic system — the basal ganglia, amygdala, and medial temporal lobes — is relatively large, while other structures, like the frontal lobe, are relatively small.
So dogs’ brains are well-equipped for emotional and sensory processing, but they don’t engage in complex thinking or planning like humans.
This is why dogs excel in roles that require immediate, emotional responsiveness. Think of therapy dogs or service animals. They don’t need to strategize — they just need to feel and respond.
Dogs are such intelligently emotional beings that, as some studies have shown, the reward centers of their brains are activated as much by social rewards as by the food we give them.
How do we know our dogs love us back? One of the main ways is through oxytocin. Oxytocin is often called the ‘love hormone’ for the way it minimises our fear response and gives us feelings of trust and empathy.
We spoke to dog cognition expert Brian Hare about this on our podcast ‘Your Brain On… Having A Pet’, and he highlighted some research by one of his students which observed that dogs exhibited increases in salivary oxytocin when interacting with children:
“We know that there’s this interspecies oxytocin loop where oxytocin is released in dog and human.
“And in fact, one of my students who’s at University of Arizona, he’s been able to validate via serum saliva and fecal samples that. Yes, you can actually measure these things that the circulating levels are relevant to behavior.”
So, if we’re using oxytocin as a basis for ‘love’, then, the neuroscience is clear: our dogs do love us back!
We talk more about animal brains (and how animal companionship benefits our own brains) in the latest episode of our podcast, ‘Your Brain On… Having A Pet’!
Podcast Guests
Brian Hare
Professor in Evolutionary Anthropology, Psychology, and Neuroscience at Duke University, author of ‘The Genius of Dogs’
Gregory Berns
Professor of Psychology and Distinguished Professor of Neuroeconomics, author of ‘How Dogs Love Us’
Video of the Week: Your Brain On... Coffee
Does coffee energize you, or make you anxious?
We explain the neurological effects of coffee in this video over on our Instagram, and discuss the matter in-depth in our podcast episode: ‘Your Brain On… Coffee’!
Recipe of the Week: Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with a Spicy Cashew Queso
If temperatures are starting to get a little cooler where you are, it’s time to turn up the heart with these delicious stuffed sweet potatoes!
For the sweet potatoes:
- 10–12 small palm-sized sweet potatoes
- Oil spray
For the Roasted Tomato Salsa:
- 28 ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
- 1–2 large jalapeño pepper
- Juice of 2 limes
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1/2 an onion
- 1 cup fresh cilantro, stems chopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin, pinch of salt
For the Spiced Quinoa and Black Beans:
- Oil spray
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1/2 cup roasted tomato salsa
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Spices: 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, and 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- Black pepper
- 1 15 oz black beans
- Juice of 1 large lime
For the Cashew Chipotle Queso:
- 1 cup raw unsalted cashews
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Spices: 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1 large chipotle peppers in adobo sauce from a can (or a tbsp of any hot sauce)
- 1/2 cup boiling hot water
Instructions
- Wash, slice, and bake the potatoes as shown at 375º F (190º C) for 50 minutes to an hour until soft and sweet.
- While the potatoes are baking, make the salsa by processing all the ingredients in a food processor.
- Make the cashew queso by blending all the ingredients.
- Cook the quinoa with the salsa and spices for 10 minutes until the quinoa absorbs all the flavors.
- Then add the beans and lime juice and serve. This can be a meal on its own.
Enjoy!
Science of the Week: Dogs hijack the human bonding pathway
In our podcast ‘Your Brain On… Having A Pet’, one of our guests, Brian Hare, mentioned some of the work one of his students, Evan MacLean, had done on how oxytocin influences the relationship we have with our animal companions.
“Comparisons of humans and dogs before and after they interact with each other have revealed notable increases in circulating oxytocin, as well as endorphins, dopamine, and prolactin, in both species.
“In addition, exogenous administration of oxytocin causes dogs to initiate more social contact with other dogs and humans, and allows dogs to tune into human social cues even more faithfully.
“These findings suggest not only an interspecies effect of oxytocin, but also the exciting possibility of a feedback loop — that is, shifts in oxytocin concentration in a dog might elicit similar changes in a human and vice versa — just as is seen when a mother bonds with her infant.
“If they stand the test of time, the implications of these findings are far-reaching. In addition to providing clues about how dogs became a part of human history, the results also help to elucidate the proximate mechanisms through which our relation-ships with dogs may be salubrious.
“For example, the benefits of assistance dogs for individuals with autism or posttraumatic stress disorder may arise partly through these social pathways. Thus, an important future challenge will be to probe the extent to which these findings generalize to diverse populations.”
This week’s brain teaser
This week’s puzzle is a crossword, with clues based on our podcast, Your Brain On… Having A Pet!
