• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Dogs & People

Dogs & People

April 20, 2015
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/150420_sciup_dog.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):

Teresa Alexander-Arab flickr CC BY-ND 2.0
(Teresa Alexander-Arab/flickr/Creative Commons License BY-ND 2.0)

Our ancient canine bond. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

Eye contact between a mother and her infant has been shown to increase her levels of the hormone oxytocin, which is known to promote bonding. But there’s growing evidence that oxytocin may also play a role in solidifying our relationships with our dogs. Duke research scientist Evan MacLean says friendly interactions between people and dogs increase oxytocin levels in both species. Now, Japanese researchers report in the journal Science that eye contact between dogs and their owners has the same effect.

EVAN MacLEAN (Duke University):

And what’s really cool is that there was this bidirectional process where the oxytocin changes in dogs and humans moved in parallel with each other.

HIRSHON:

MacLean says wolves raised with humans don’t elicit the same response. The findings suggest that dogs have been taking advantage of our parental tendencies since they first started to diverge from wolves thousands of years ago. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society. 

Category: Daily Show, Station DownloadTag: Animal Behavior, Anthropology, Biology, Social & Behavioral Sciences
Previous Post:Gut Microbe Diversity
Next Post:Disaster Science

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Mayan Honeybee hives
House sparrow wearing top hat rides aboard a red fireworks rocket

Copyright © 2023 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos