Brain activity found to be synchronized when dogs and humans stare at each other – GIGAZINE

Dogs are said to be the oldest animals that started living with humans, and have been loved as pets since ancient times. A research team at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, measured the brain waves of humans and dogs and reported that they synchronized their brain activity when humans and dogs made eye contact.

Disrupted Human–Dog Interbrain Neural Coupling in Autism‐Associated Shank3 Mutant Dogs – Ren – Advanced Science – Wiley Online Library
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/advs.202402493

Dogs’ Brains Sync With Ours When We Gaze Into Their Eyes, Study Finds : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/dogs-brains-sync-with-ours-when-we-gaze-into-their-eyes-study-finds

The research team prepared 10 pairs of beagles and humans and had them live together for five days. At this time, we measured the brain waves of dogs and humans and investigated the effects of eye contact and touching each other.

Next, we investigated the effects of “eye contact” and “touching each other” individually. Furthermore, they conducted a similar experiment using 13 dogs with mutations in the SHANK3 gene, which is thought to be the causative gene for autism spectrum disorder, and compared the differences with dogs without mutations. In addition, dogs with mutations in the SHANKS3 geneL.S.D.Experiments were also conducted to examine the effects of a single dose of .

As a result of the experiment, synchronization of brain activity was observed when dogs and humans made eye contact or touched each other. The research team reported that synchronization was observed primarily in the frontal lobe region when the subjects made eye contact, and in the parietal lobe region when they touched each other. The direction of this synchronization was “from humans to dogs,” and it seems that there was a tendency for synchrony to become stronger after living together for 5 days.

Additionally, dogs with a mutation in the SHANK3 gene had a significantly weakened synchrony with human brain activity. Furthermore, it seems that dogs with the mutation also showed a decline in attention, but a single dose of LSD improved the problems of brain activity synchronization and decline in attention.

The research team’s results suggested that there is a “bond” between humans and dogs at a neurological level, and that this bond may be impaired in conditions such as autism spectrum disorder. It also shows that LSD may improve dog-human interaction disorders. However, the research team also noted limitations, including the need to study human-dog interactions in more natural settings and limitations in interpreting the EEG data.

The research team said, “This study is the first to report synchronization of brain activity across species, and is an important finding for understanding the neural mechanisms of social interactions between humans and dogs.” says. We also discussed that synchronization of brain activity may serve as a biomarker for autism spectrum disorders.