Your dog's puppy eyes hold a wholesome secret: A connection deeper than previously known

New study reveals that puppy eyes syncs human and dog brain activities, with promising implications for understanding and treating autism.

Dogs are a man’s best friend. Cute puppy eyes not only captivate the heart but also have a neurological effect. A Chinese Academy of Sciences study, published in Advanced Science, revealed that gazing into a dog’s eyes synchronises brain activity. It shows the bond of emotional affection with the canine companion. This affection is not one-sided, suggesting dogs understand and interpret human emotions and express affection in return, as the dog’s brain activity matches with the humans.

Puppy eyes effect

The researchers called this phenomenon Interbrain coupling. With the help of simultaneous ECG monitoring on both the dog and human, while they were engaged in bonding activities like petting, the brain activities displayed similarity. The study narrowed down on the remarkable coordination in the brain activity and its implications on role dynamics and human neurological disorders.

The brain synchronisation followed a pattern and was not random or coincidental. The synced patterns imply the role dynamic between the dog and the human. The brain activities showed the dynamic of leader-follower. It reflected the relationship between humans and dogs, where humans typically guide the relationship by assuming the leadership role. It also signifies that the dog perceives the human as a leader, and follows them. That's why dogs are easy to train and they obediently follow commands.

Hope for Autism disorder

SHANK 3 is a gene that is associated with the neurodevelopmental disorder called autism in humans. The researchers examined dogs with mutations in this SHANK 3 gene. Dogs with the mutation showed low brain synchronisation, with the gene mutation disrupting the possible sync, showing dissonance in the patterns of human and dog brain activities. It highlighted the difficulty of these dogs in interacting with humans and understanding social cues. Similar social difficulty is also seen in humans with autism.

Researchers, however, were able to fix the impaired brain synchronisation of the dogs affected by mutation with a single dose of the psychedelic drug LSD. This is yet to be applied to humans and the surprising discovery is still in its nascent stage. However, this dog-human relationship has numerous potentials and can be applied to understand autism treatments better.