Promising research for parents of autistic childen

Dogs are emerging as a great treatment option for autistic children.  Earlier this year, I wrote about Kaleb, and the autistic twins that he is helping.  And now a study has been released by Université de Montreal and published in  Psychoeuroendicrinology that found that dogs "had a clear impact on the children's stress hormone levels." They tested he cortisol levels in the saliva of 42 autistic children before a service dog was introduced, during a visit with the dog, and after the dog was removed.  They found a dramatic impact for the time which the dog was present.

This was the first study of its kind, and according to the lead scientist, Sonia Lupien, "Our results lend support to the potential behavioural benefits of service dogs for autistic children." Let's hope so!

Image courtesy of PhotoBucket

Imitating humans, missing out on treats

Dogs have evolved alongside humans in a way that no other animal can really match.  In fact, it has been hardwired into our genes to imitate humans even when it is against our own self interest. Even when it means we are less likely to get treats!  Scientists at the University of Vienna Department of Cognitive Biology tested this theory with 10 dogs.  

Discovery News provided this synopsis: "All of the dogs received preliminary training to open a sliding door using their head or a paw. The dogs then watched their owners open the door by hand or by head. For the latter, the owner would get down on the floor and use his or her head to push up or down on the sliding door. The dogs were next divided into two groups. Dogs in the first group received a food reward whenever they copied what the owner did. Dogs in the second group received a food reward when they did the opposite. All of the dogs were inclined to copy what the owner did, even if it meant receiving no food reward."  

Last year, I wrote about a similar story where researchers demonstrated that domesticated dogs were more likely to be mislead by humans than wolves in the classic Piaget "A not B" experiment because we have just evolved to trust humans so much.  

Three-legged dogs aid robot research

I have written before about how animals fitted for the latest prosthetics are helping to inform science on human prosthetics.  Generally I find the resilience of three legged, two legged, or otherwise special needs dogs to be inspiring.  But three legged dogs helping robot research?! Thats a new one!  But it is true--A team of researchers led by Martin Groß at the University of Jena in Germany are working to understand the mobility adaptations that three-legged dogs make in order to design robots that can overcome an "injury." Dogs can help because they can demonstrate how to compensate differently based on the loss of a front or rear limb.

According to Science Daily's great synopsis of the research, "Adjusting to missing a fore-limb is more difficult for the dog to deal with than for a hind-limb, according to the researchers. If a fore-limb is missing, the remaining limbs must undergo careful adaptation to co-ordinate with each other, a process known as 'gait compensation.' With a hind-leg amputation, the scientists found that the fore-limbs continue to act as they would normally in a four-legged dog, showing little or no compensation strategy. The scientists think the reason for the difference is due to the higher loading of the fore-limbs in comparison to the hind-limbs, because of the distribution of body weight." Very interesting stuff!

Wags to my very special three-legged buddy Spencer, who first sent me a tip on this cool new research.  He missing a fore leg, and is pictured here demonstrating how missing a leg does not mean he ever has to miss out on the fun--especially at the beach!

Dog people and cat people really ARE different!

We all know that there are differences between "cat people" and "dog people," but now researcher have set out to prove it. As part of the Gosling-Potter Internet Personality Project, researchers at University of Texas at Austin surveyed people to understand the differences. The larger project examines surveys from 4,500 people to measure their levels of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

Self-identified dog people scored significantly higher on their levels of extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. They scored lower than self identified cat people on neuroticism.

The lead researcher, Sam Gosling, put it this way: "Once you know the findings, it kind of falls into place. You think, 'of course, agreeableness and extraversion -- dogs are companionable, they hang out, they like to be with you, they like your company, whereas cats like it for as long as they want it, and then they're off." Gosling has also suggested that these findings could be helpful in determining what type of pet therapy would be best for a particular individual human.

[Image courtesy of PhotoBucket]