A new study based on a survey of dog owners suggests we’re so similar to our canine companions that dogs can—and should—be used to better understand human mental health.
My family’s dog Teddy, a wide-eyed, brown and white spaniel, was a nervous wreck when a thunderstorm rolled in. To calm his shaking and panting, the vet prescribed him lorazepam, a benzodiazepine marketed as Ativan that’s also used to treat anxiety in humans.
Many psychologists group human personality into five “factors”: extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. These traits can be influenced by genetics and can affect a person’s mental health—especially neuroticism, or the tendency to feel negative emotions such as distress and sadness. Research has shown neurotic personalities are more vulnerable to depression or anxiety, whereas traits such as conscientiousness and agreeableness protect against these disorders.
Twenty years ago, Overall and other experts began to suggest the dog be used as a model for human psychiatry. The same types of mental illness don’t occur naturally in rodents; researchers have to induce them. The scientists sent the survey to the homes of 11,360 Finnish dogs from 52 breeds, comprising everything from mastiffs to Jack Russell terriers. They grouped the responses for each dog into the seven canine personality traits. Then they used a set of equations to assess whether dogs that tended to have the same personality traits also shared common unwanted behaviors.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Shawn Mendes Reflects On Life After Split from Camila Cabello'I think that's the reality that kinda I am on my own now'
Read more »
Kid Rock to Tucker Carlson: ‘I am uncancellable’Kid Rock to Tucker Carlson: 'I am uncancellable.'
Read more »
Kid Rock Claims He’s ‘Uncancelable’ in Tucker Carlson InterviewThe “Don’t Tell Me How To Live” singer will sit down with the Fox News opinion host on Monday night.
Read more »
8. Who Am I Fooling?Listen to this episode from Cover Story on Spotify. Since the publication of Michael Pollan’s bestseller, How to Change Your Mind, more people than ever have gotten comfortable trying psychedelics. And a few of them have died. We look into two cases and ask, who’s responsible for warning people about the dangers? And we explore one important motivation for keeping quiet about them: money. CREDITS Cover Story is a production of New York magazine. Power trip is co-created, produced, and reported by David Nickles and Lily Kay Ross. Our senior producers are Marianne McCune and Whitney Jones. Also produced by Tarkor Zehn, Liza Yeager, Noor Bouzidi, and iO Tillett Wright. Our executive producer and editor is Hanna Rosin. With additional editing help by Nichole Hill. Sound design and scoring by Brandon McFarland. Additional sound design by Sharif Youssef, who also mixed the show. Cover Story’s Theme music by Santigold. Additional music by Lynx DeMuth and John Ellis. Fact-checking by Britina Cheng and Ted Hart. Special thanks to legal minds Elissa Cohen, Jillian Robbins, and Samantha Mason. And also to Gaby Grossman. Power Trip is also produced with Psymposia, a non-profit watchdog group. For a deeper dive into some of these issues visit psymposia.com/powertrip. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Read more »
Kid Rock: 'I Am Uncancelable' -- 'Because I Don't Give a F*ck'Recording artist Kid Rock declared in an interview with FNC's Tucker Carlson set to air Monday that he cannot be canceled. | Clips
Read more »