SIT, FETCH, AND… IMPROVE BRAIN HEALTH

BY HENRY MAHNCKE, PHD

As a scientist, I'm fascinated that I talk to my cats. They really don't speak English, and since they are cats, they never follow my instructions. And petting a cat is nice for the cat – but somehow feels nice to me as well! What's going on in our brains as we provide for and play with our pets? And is it possible that it's good for us – as well as good for our pets?

In the past few decades, brain scientists have learned that many activities can contribute to better brain health and performance because the brain is constantly reorganizing itself in response to what we ask our brains to do. This reorganization is called "brain plasticity" – the ability of the brain to change chemically, structurally, and functionally. Activities that demand attention, speed, and accuracy, and provide rewards for success, change our brains and permit learning, building skills, growing brain reserve and resilience, and protecting against cognitive decline.

Taking care of a pet – and building an emotional bond with a pet – is exactly that kind of activity.

Think, for example, of playing fetch with a dog – there's the brain speed and accuracy required to throw a ball, the attention required to make it interesting and different each time, and the reward when the dog brings the ball to you with its tail wagging in anticipation of more play.

Even if our cats, birds, and reptiles don't play fetch, when we play with them and take care of them, those activities stimulate our brains in important ways – and contribute to brain health.

SOCIALIZATION AND BRAIN HEALTH

The companionship pets offer is important. Humans are social creatures, and our brains need social interaction to be healthy. Giving and receiving love from a pet – everything from belly rubs for your dog to when your cat curls up in your lap – stimulates social and emotional centers in the brain that are important for overall brain health.

Of course, many other activities – not involving pets – are brain healthy as well. Those may include, for example, getting together

with friends for coffee, catching up on news and gossip, and playing a game together. What's important to brain healthy activities is that they involve brain speed, accuracy, focused attention, and reward. Some activities that people think are brain healthy – for example, doing crossword puzzles on your own – don't really require much speed or accuracy, and if our attention wanders a bit, it's okay. These activities can be fun and rewarding, but studies indicate that they don't do much for brain performance or brain health. If you asked me if you should go out for a walk with your dog, play fetch, and talk to some other dog owners, I'd say that's a more brain healthy activity than sitting by yourself and trying to figure out a four-letter word for a woody plant (it's "tree.").

PETS AND BRAIN CHEMISTRY

Sometimes, people think of the brain as a cold information processing machine – storing memories or reacting to stimuli. However, the brain actually is a social and emotional system as well – we make friends, we interpret actions of other people, we work together, and we're happy when things go well. Those same systems come into play when we interact with pets.

Oxytocin is a brain chemical released in childbirth, mother/baby bonding, and social bonding in general. It turns out that oxytocin is involved in social bonding between people and

HAVING A BALL: The brain is a social and emotional system — we make friends, we interpret actions of other people, we work together, and we're happy when things go well. Those same systems come into play when we interact with pets.