their pets as well. When your dog puts her paws in your lap and gazes lovingly into your eyes – her levels of oxytocin go up, and so do yours. This builds the bond between you and your dog – and promotes brain plasticity in both of your brains, which helps your brain maintain its youthful ability to change and rewire itself. Cortisol is a hormone involved in stress ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Andrew Mees is the Media Relations Director at Montclair State University.
Cortisol is a hormone involved in stress response. Interacting with other people might lower our stress and cortisol levels (if the interaction is with a friend or family member, and we’re relaxing) – or might increase our stress and cortisol levels (if the interaction is with your boss, and we’re on deadline). In general, interacting with a pet decreases stress and cortisol levels – it’s like having a friend who always wants to relax and play together. Ongoing high stress and cortisol levels are not good for brain health – so playing with your pet for a while can help.
And finally, there is dopamine – a brain chemical released when you are rewarded – which reinforces learning and stimulates brain plasticity. It is the chemical that produces that "feel good" rush after you succeed at a task. Dopamine helps your brain
clair State University. rewire itself to build on your success. Playing with your pet – or just cuddling – releases dopamine in your brain, which makes you feel good about being with your pet – and also helps your brain stay healthy.
BUILDING YOUR BEST BRAIN
In my family, we have two cats, a guinea pig, and a tortoise. It's a fair amount of work to take care of them all! But they're all wonderful members of our family. Having a pet helps with your brain health. If you want to ensure that you are at you best to take care of your pets, do everything you can to take care of your own brain.
In my professional life, I work on brain exercise programs – built on the principles of brain plasticity and shown effective in more than 100 studies – which helps people think faster, focus better, and remember more. We developed that brain training as an efficient way for people to exercise their brains to improve their brain performance and brain health. However, it's not the only
thing we recommend. There are many ways to improve brain health including physical exercise and following the brain-healthy MIND Diet. As you now know, that list can include having a pet in your family.
What's most important is that you take steps to maintain and improve your brain health, so you can take care of furry, feathered, and scaly friends, and get the most out of life. •
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Mahncke got his PhD in Neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco in the Merzenich Lab, which discovered the brain remains "plastic" — capable of chemical, structural and functional change — at any age. Then, at the request of his academic mentor, Dr. Mahncke led a global team in harnessing that plasticity through the computerized brain exercises found in the BrainHQ app, which is produced by Posit Science, where he is the CEO. BrainHQ can be found at brainhq.com.
