The affection or love that we feel towards our canine companions (and that we receive from them) has a compelling reason. Several experiments carried out by a team of scientists from the Department of Animal Science and Biotechnology of Azabu University (Japan) have shown that the love hormone , oxytocin, is the one that, with the evolution of this animal together with its best friend , has created a connection as strong as the one that is created at the biological level between parents and children. Thus, the simple visual contact between the dog and its owner strengthens their affective bonds, according to the study published in the journal Science .
Oxytocin, that chemical that acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain, not only generates affective bonds between human beings but also between other species, specifically dogs . To demonstrate this, the researchers carried out several experiments with 30 dogs (15 females and 15 males) of different breeds and ages, and their owners (24 females and 6 males).
In one of them, dogs and owners were led to a room where they remained for 30 minutes, while the scientists recorded their interactions. The oxytocin levels of both species (measured through their urine) increased after prolonged eye contact . Thus, the more eye contact the owners had with their dogs, the greater the increase in the levels of this hormone in the brain.
“When the dog and owner look at each other, they both show an increase in oxytocin, ” says Takefumi Kikusui, leader of the study, to Sinc.
The conclusions of the study are clear: humans and dogs reinforce their biological bonds in a neural circuit powered by oxytocin, in the same way that it is built between individuals of the same family. And the way to create and reinforce this bond is simple and direct: a simple look at each other .
Subsequently, the same experiment was carried out with domesticated wolves . Unlike what happened with dogs, wolves did not seek the gaze of humans, even having been raised by them and their oxytocin levels did not increase : them, possibly due to lack of eye contact. The use of this eye contact towards the owner is different between dogs and wolves, and this is the reason why wolves do not have this type of bond with humans, ”explains Kikusui.
