Oxytoological Perceptions Of Emotions

Dogs were first thought to have a simple way of processing information and commands given by humans. This simple process was done through the reward system of the brain; The dog hears or sees the instruction, follows through, and is rewarded with a treat, however, now it has been proposed through a series of experiments that there is a much more complicated pattern canines' brains follow to interpret the gestures and faces of their owners and others around them. This finding shows that dogs have the ability to process and recognize faces of people and other canines through what they now call the dog face area or DFA in the brain where the general area of the temporal lobe is. This disproves the previous thought that dogs followed commands due

In more recent years, there has been an increasing amount of literature on human and nonhuman primates that suggest an association between oxytocin levels and prosocial behaviors. In a fairly recent study done by Elizabeth A. Simpson and other colleagues at the National Institutes of Health in Poolesville, Maryland, they found that in both humans and macaques when a growing amount of oxytocin appears it enhances social attention and prosocial behaviors. Therefore the hormone oxytocin may be used as a tool for promoting social behaviors, especially in clinical populations in which social faculties are compromised. In Simpson's research, her and her team found that when oxytocin was tested in autistic individuals, it increased social attention and improved emotion recognition. The study clarified that the role of oxytocin in early development is critically important. Because, for example, when human infants are actively participating in face-to-face caregiver-infant interactions,

In a study done by the National Institute of Mental Health, when scientists pumped female prairie voles with oxytocin, the animals basically just sticked themselves to their new mating partners. These female voles also were more likely to lick and cuddle more than uninjected voles. Decisively, after being injected with oxytocin antagonists, the females left their partners. Some scientists have hypothesized Vasopressin has the same effect in males, and according to them it’s possible this turned a few men into jealous husbands and boyfriends.However, I personally believe these bonding and attachment traits, nevertheless, are most likely what caused oxytocin to be evident throughout mammalian evolution. Trust also seems like an additional unique mammalian characteristic that’s been correlated with oxytocin. In a 1995 experiment done by scientist Berg, a risky investment game was paired up with a Oxytocin nasal spray. Players were sprayed with the Oxytocin nasal spray, and later on this displayed

On a genetic level dog’s share 99.6% of their DNA with Wolves, however, a dog’s brain work’s very differently to that of a wolf. “Dogs appear to demonstrate sensitivity for human gestures more than many other specifies lack”( brauer, Kaminski, reidal, cll & Tomasello 2006, hare, brown Williamson, and Tomelsslo). A team led by Dr Kun Guo has proven that dogs also exhibit "left gaze bias", but only in the instance when they are looking at human faces. There has not been another animal that has been able to display this behavior before. This interaction is unique. This new understanding we have about dogs via dogs studying our faces,” dogs have learnt 'left-gaze bias '”. Scientist state this shows that dogs understand that the right-hand side of the human face displays our emotions more truthfully than the left. Humans and dogs are the only species on the planet to understand and use left-gaze bias specifically to read human facial expressions. Dogs release the positive hormone, oxytocin, which is triggered by love: "Dogs experience a surge of oxytocin during friendly interactions with people." "Dogs really do miss their owners when separated from them." (John Bradshaw). An important finding is that dogs are tamable and trainable, whereas wolves generally are not, even though they may Bradshaw says that from the moment puppies open their eyes, they start to bond with people "completely, spontaneously and as hard

Recent research published on March 2nd in PNAS has found that oxytocin may play a key role in promoting neurotypical social behaviors.

Just as Mcgregor and Bowen (2012) demonstrated the effect of oxytocin on addictive behaviors, Ross and Young (2009) show how oxytocin effects and regulates affilitative behaviors. Up until about 50 years ago, the role of oxytocin was mostly focused on regulating female behavior and reproduction (parturition and lactation). More recent studies have shown a more generalized role for oxytocin in modulating affilitative behavior in both sexes. This was proven by examining the behavioral effects of oxytocin, which is formed by the plasticity in the neural expression of the oxytocin receptor. Oxytocin plays an important role in mother-infant attachment, and since mating results in vaginocervical stimulation, which releases oxytocin in the brain,

All dogs wag their tails to express themselves, and use their body language, yet there are many breeds of dogs. Bulldogs are commonly known for their aggressive nature and personality. Sheepdogs are known for their herding abilities. Retrievers, for their playful, family-friendly personality. These breeds are very different, and their personalities much more so. How might the breed of a dog affect emotion portrayal, if breed affects personality? In an online blog, Pet Helpful, this topic is discussed, reading, “A dog's behavior may also significantly be influenced by the breed. You may have a hyperactive Labrador because this breed was meant to work for most of the day and you may have an aloof Rottweiler because this guarding breed was bred to be wary of strangers.” If the behavior of the animal is altered by breed, depending on how the dog was bred to react what it was bred to do, it seems likely that the dog might also represent its emotions in a different way than other dogs. Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Claire Thomas says in a recently held interview, “Each dog breed does come with characteristics that affect them, and how they interact with people, so I do think, potentially, yes.” (Thomas, 2018) Dr. Thomas declares that she does believe that breed can affect how feelings are shown in a dog, because of their distinct characteristics and differences. There are many factors to how a dog will show people how it was

FSIDD explores the ability of dogs to ‘facilitate social responses in humans’ (FSIDD, p340) and whether these responses were influenced by the appearance of the dog in question or whether they were generic responses to a stimulus (Wells, 2004). The ‘social catalysis effect’ (FSIDD, p341) that Wells investigates in this paper is the particular cause of a social response between

the chemical oxytocin that is released when a dog makes eye contact with s human. Oxytocin is considered “the love hormone”. It is similar when we hug someone we love. When this happens, oxytocin levels increase. This creates feelings of trust. When a dog stares at its human, the owner pays loving attention to it. The dog feels a similar thing, causing it to stare even harder. But this hadn't started recently. Thousands of years of evolution caused this strong bond. Research in dingoes, who are related to both dogs and wolves, show that dogs lengthy looks came in phases. Dogs made quick eye contact with humans early on. Between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago, dingoes began hanging around settlements. The dingoes were originally from Australia.

Scientists wanted to know how the relationship between a dog owner and the dog affects the endorphins but Miho Nagasawa found that they also have higher levels of oxytocin in their urine so they tested it then they were both right. In the text it said there is an increase in endorphins in both dogs and people after enjoyable interactions, like petting, play and talking (2). From this I can infer that dogs are good and don’t harm but bring happiness after good interactions to both people and dogs. I know because key to the hormonal changes women experience leading up to and following birth (4). An example in paragraph four is that Miho Nagasawa and her colleagues found that owners and dogs sharing a long mutual gaze had higher levels of oxytocin

Affiliative behavior refers as the activities that promote social bonding such as grooming, touching, and huddling. Oxytocin was found to evoke social engagement and maternal behavior21. It will be intriguing to determine the

Wathan and her team are continuing to connect emotions with expressions. Connecting emotions to expressions can help veterinarians and pet owners help their animals be safer and happier. Psychologist Bridget Walter believes "Facial expressions have an enormous impact

Oxytocin is a neuropeptide in the human central nervous system. It is synthesized in the hypothalamus and released by the pituitary gland. During pregnancy and lactation, oxytocin assists in delivery and milk release. Over the past two decades, there has been increasing interest in the effects of oxytocin on social behavior (see Bartz & Hollander, 2006 and Heinrichs et al., 2009 for reviews). A recent (2016) issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry was devoted entirely to oxytocin research. Animal studies have found that oxytocin has a modulating role on animals’ social behaviors (e.g. Donaldson & Young, 2008; Ferguson et al., 2001), including expressions of monogamy. Subsequent studies on humans show that intranasal administration of oxytocin

My dogs always know when I’m happy or sad, it never fails. According to Patricia McConnell, an author and animal behaviorist: “Your dog is probably a far better observer than you are. We as humans pay so much attention to language that it often interferes with our ability to see what’s happening around us.” Just think that knock at the door that comes as your wondering why your dog is already sitting in front on the door seconds before it happened. That one person your dog always barks at and you can’t figure out why. Dogs don’t have language but they do have sense and in my opinion, have better judgment than humans. They smell thing that we don’t smell like chemicals your body has when you're nervous or have a medical condition before you do. They listen and grasp so many ways the human can’t even

During a segment on 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper met with Brian Hare, an established dog expert, to talk about how dogs show love. Hare states that when your dog makes direct eye contact by staring into your eyes, he is “hugging you with his eyes.”