Monday, May 20, 2013

Pets are good for you - Holy Kaw!

cute puppy picture

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Did you know that your brain releases oxytocin, ?the feel-good? hormone in the brain when you pet your dog or cat?

What is Oxytocin?
?Oxytocin is a powerful hormone. When we hug or kiss a loved one, oxytocin levels drive up. It also acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. In fact, the hormone plays a huge role in pair bonding.?

This wonderful feeling can come from dogs, cats, and even goldfish! A study showed that having a fish tank at a nursing home improved appetites.

?Watch a Lassie movie and spit into a cup. It doesn?t sound like it, but this is cutting-edge research. By analyzing saliva, researcher Cheryl Krause-Parello showed that merely watching a dog in a movie lowered people?s stress. Krause-Parello, assistant professor and director of the Center for Nursing Research at Kean University in Union, N.J., learned that people felt better after watching a Lassie flick because their levels of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress, took a free fall.?

Do you have a pet? Have you had these great experiences with them?

Full article at Psychology Today

Find more great articles about pets or psychology on Alltop.

Photo credit RKleine

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Source: http://holykaw.alltop.com/pets-are-good-for-you

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