Does interaction between humans and animals provide significant health benefits?

Many pet owners say that that their animals provide company, happiness, and other emotional fulfillment.

NGS photo by Howell Walker

"Being around dogs can have a calming effect," pet writer Maryann Mott reported for National Geographic News a few years ago. "Studies have shown that physiological changes occur when people touch dogs: a drop in heart rate, lower blood pressure, and reduced stress."

In a separate news story, Lara Suziedelis Bogle reported that "therapy dogs" seem to boost the health of sick and lonely people. "Most people are familiar with dogs that assist their blind or otherwise disabled owners," Bogle wrote. "Therapy dogs offer a different kind of help. Some pay informal social visits to people to boost their spirits, while others work in a more structured environment with trained professionals like physical therapists and social workers to help patients reach clinical goals, such as increased mobility or improved memory."

NGS photo by Dean Conger

This fall, the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction (ReCHAI) will explore the many ways animals benefit people of all ages. The opportunity to do this will be at the International Society for Anthrozoology and Human-Animal Interaction Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

"Lowers blood pressure, encourages exercise, improves psychological health--these may sound like the effects of a miracle drug, but they are actually among the benefits of owning a four-legged, furry pet."

"Lowers blood pressure, encourages exercise, improves psychological health--these may sound like the effects of a miracle drug, but they are actually among the benefits of owning a four-legged, furry pet," ReCHAI said in a statement about the conference.

"Research in this field is providing new evidence on the positive impact pets have in our lives," said Rebecca Johnson, associate professor in the MU Sinclair School of Nursing, the College of Veterinary Medicine and director of ReCHAI. "This conference will provide a unique opportunity to connect international experts working in human-animal interaction research with those already working in the health and veterinary medicine fields."

NGS photo by William E. Eppridge

The conference, from October 20 to October 25, will feature presentations that will show how beneficial animals can be in the lives of children, families and older adults.

Marty Becker, a veterinary contributor to ABC's "Good Morning America" for more than 12 years, will give a presentation called "The Power of Love: the science and the soul behind that affection-connection we call The Bond."

NGS photo by W. Robert Moore

Other conference discussions will include ways that human-animal interaction benefits humans and animals, new facets of human-animal interaction, and ways to apply new human-animal interaction knowledge to their fields, the university said. Some of the presentations will highlight the special role of companion animals in facilitating reading and physical activity in children and adults.

"Pets are of great importance to people, especially during hard economic times," Johnson said. "Pets provide unconditional love and acceptance and may be part of answers to societal problems, such as inactivity and obesity."

NGS photo by Gilbert M. Grosvenor

In 2008 ReCHAI sponsored the "Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound and Stay Fit for Seniors." In the preliminary program, a group of older adults were matched with shelter dogs, while another group of older adults were partnered with a human walk buddy. For 12 weeks, participants were encouraged to walk on an outdoor trail for one hour, five times a week. At the end of the program, researchers measured how much the older adults' activity levels improved.

"The older people who walked their dogs improved their walking capabilities by 28 percent...The older people who walked with humans only had a 4 percent increase in their walking capabilities."

"The older people who walked their dogs improved their walking capabilities by 28 percent," Johnson said. "They had more confidence walking on the trail, and they increased their speed. The older people who walked with humans only had a 4 percent increase in their walking capabilities. The human walking buddies tended to discourage each other and used excuses such as the weather being too hot."

"The few studies that have been conducted suggest that pet ownership may have multiple health and emotional benefits for both children and adults," said James Griffin, a scientist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. "But there has been relatively little rigorous research documenting these benefits and examining how and why they occur. By providing support for this conference and additional research studies, we hope to generate some answers."

NGS photo by Emory Kristof

The Human-Animal Interaction Conference will bring together people around the world working on similar projects as ReCHAI, Johnson said. These people include nurses, physicians, veterinarians, social workers, psychologists, physical and occupational therapists, and activity directors.

"Today, pets are in more than 60 percent of American homes," said Charlotte McKenney, assistant director of ReCHAI. "Research involving human-animal interaction can be extremely beneficial. More people are incorporating pets into their leisure time, such as making them part of their exercise routines, taking them to dog parks and bringing them to family events."

For more information or to register for the conference, visit the conference Web site.

The mechanism that takes place during sleep that causes learning and memory formation has been pinpointed for the first time, an international research team announced today.

"It's been known for more than a century that sleep somehow is important for learning and memory," Rutgers University said in a statement about the research.

"Sigmund Freud further suspected that what we learned during the day was 'rehearsed' by the brain during dreaming, allowing memories to form.

"And while much recent research has focused on the correlative links between the hippocampus and memory consolidation, what had not been identified was the specific processes that cause long-term memories to form," Rutgers said.

NGS photo by B. Anthony Stewart

The researchers determined that short transient brain events, called "sharp wave ripples," are responsible for consolidating memory and transferring the learned information from the hippocampus to the neocortex, where long-term memories are stored, the university added.

llustration from "Grays Anatomy," 1918

The study, posted online on September 11 by Nature Neuroscience,was done by György Buzsaki, professor at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Newark, and his co-researchers, Gabrielle Girardeau, Karim Benchenane, Sidney I. Wiener and Michaël B. Zugaro of the Collége de France, Paris.

Sharp wave ripples are intense, compressed oscillations that occur in the hippocampus when the hippocampus is working "off-line," most often during stage four sleep, which, along with stage three, is the deepest level of sleep, Rutgers said.

NGS photo by Ted V. Tamburo

During stage four sleep, Buzsaki explained, "it's as if many instruments and members of the orchestra come together to generate a loud sound, a sound so loud that it is heard by wide areas of the neocortex. These sharp, 'loud' transient events occur hundreds to thousands of times during sleep and 'teach' the neocortex to form a long-term form of the memory, a process referred to as memory consolidation."

"Those ripples also explain why certain events may only take place once in the waking state and yet can be remembered for a lifetime."

The intensity and multiple occurrence of those ripples also explain why certain events may only take place once in the waking state and yet can be remembered for a lifetime, Buzsaki said.

The researchers were able to pinpoint that sharp wave ripples are the cause behind memory formation by eliminating those ripple events in rats during sleep.

"The rats were trained in a spatial navigation task and then allowed to sleep after each session," Rutgers said. "Those rats that selectively had all ripple events eliminated by electrical stimulation were impeded in their ability to learn from the training, as compressed information was unable to leave the hippocampus and transfer to the neocortex."

NGS photo by James L. Stanfield 

Identification of a specific brain pattern responsible for strengthening learned information could facilitate applied research for more effective treatment of memory disorders.

"This is the first example that if a well-defined pattern of activity in the brain is reliably and selectively eliminated, it results in memory deficit; a demonstration that this specific brain pattern is the cause behind long-term memory formation," Buzsaki said.

The research also represents a move toward a new direction in neuroscience research, Rutgers added.

"While previous research largely has focused on correlating behavior with specific brain events through electroencephalogram, neuronal spiking and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, increasingly researchers are challenging those correlations as they seek to identify the specific process or processes that cause certain events and behaviors to take place."

The research was performed at the Collége de France, Paris where Buzsaki worked as a distinguished visiting professor in 2008.

Rutgers Board of Governors Professor of Neuroscience Gyorgy Buzsaki is recognized worldwide for his work in expanding the boundaries of scientific understanding about the brain's ability to process and store information, according to the university. At the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers University in Newark, he has focused on the hippocampus and the role of neurons located there in maintaining long-term memory, as well as related research into epilepsy, depression, schizophrenia and Parkinsons disease.

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Relax guys, the British scientist who led the team that created human sperm from stem cells in a laboratory does not believe that the technique makes men redundant.

"However, researchers believe that the issue does need to be debated and legislated for," says Professor Karim Nayernia at Newcastle University and the North East England Stem Cell Institute (NESCI).

"As work progresses and results improve at Newcastle and elsewhere, it may, in theory, be possible to develop IVD [in vitro derived] sperm from embryonic stem lines which have been stored," he says on the NESCI Web site.

Illustration courtesy NIH

NESCI announced today that human sperm has been created using embryonic stem cells for the first time in a scientific development. The tecnique "will lead researchers to a better understanding of the causes of infertility," the Institute said in a statement.

The work is published today (July 8, 2009) in the academic journal Stem Cells and Development.

"It will also allow scientists to study how cells involved in reproduction are affected by toxins, for example, why young boys with leukaemia who undergo chemotherapy can become infertile for life--and possibly lead us to a solution."

The team also believe that studying the process of forming sperm could lead to a better understanding of how genetic diseases are passed on.

In the technique developed at Newcastle, stem cells with XY chromosomes (male) were developed into germline stem cells which were then prompted to complete meiosis--cell division with halving of the chromosome set. These were shown to produce fully mature sperm, called scientifically in vitro derived sperm (IVD sperm), NESCI said.

"In contrast, stem cells with XX chromosomes (female) were prompted to form early stage sperm, spermatagonia, but did not progress further. This demonstrates to researchers that the genes on a Y chromosome are essential for meiosis and for sperm maturation."

The IVD sperm will not and cannot be used for fertility treatment, NESCI added. "As well as being prohibited by UK law, the research team say fertilization of human eggs and implantation of embryos would hold no scientific merit for them as they want to study the process as a model for research."

The ability to make sperm in a lab does not mean an end to men, Nayernia says. "In this technique IVD sperm could only be produced from an embryo containing a male (Y) chromosome."

"This does not mean that humans can be produced 'in a dish' and we have no intention of doing this."

"While we can understand that some people may have concerns, this does not mean that humans can be produced 'in a dish' and we have no intention of doing this. This work is a way of investigating why some people are infertile and the reasons behind it. If we have a better understanding of what's going on it could lead to new ways of treating infertility," Nayernia said.

In theory it might be possible to make a baby from IVD sperm, Nayernia says on the NESCI Web site, as the IVD sperm show all the characteristics of sperm--that is they act and look like sperm. "However, this work is not being done to make a baby which is prohibited by law."

Illustration courtesy NIH

The work is in early stages and much more investigation needs to be done on understanding the process and for testing the suitability and safety of IVD sperm as a possible fertility treatment.

"Nayernia believes that in 10 years this could be a treatment offered for example, to young boys who have to undergo chemotherapy which currently often leaves them infertile," NESCI says.

"When combined with other pioneering stem cell techniques, specifically somatic cell nuclear transfer, it could also allow men who are currently infertile the chance to have a child which is genetically their own but again, this will be many years away--at least a decade."

The North East England Stem Cell Institute is a collaboration between Newcastle and Durham Universities, Newcastle NHS Foundation Trust and other partners.

NGS Photo by James L. Stanfield

Worried about losing your job or your investments in the current financial crisis? Don't let the stress impact your oral health, which may contribute, in turn, to even more serious health complications.

"Stress can make an individual more susceptible to harmful habits that negatively impact oral health," says David Cochran, president of the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) and chair of the Department of Periodontics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

"Stress may lead an individual to abuse tobacco or alcohol, and to possibly even neglect his or her oral hygiene. These lifestyle choices are known risk factors for the development of periodontal disease, which has been connected to several other chronic diseases, including heart disease and diabetes," he said in a statement released by the AAP.

A study published in the February 2009 Journal of Periodontology confirmed that stress may interfere with oral hygiene, the statement explained. In the study, 56 percent of participants self-reported that stress led them to neglect regular brushing and flossing.

"In addition, the hormone cortisol may also play a role in the connection between stress and gum disease. Chronic stress is associated with higher and more prolonged levels of cortisol; previous research has found that increased amounts of cortisol in the bloodstream can lead to a more destructive form of periodontal disease," the statement added.

"During periods of high stress such as what we are currently experiencing in this economic climate, individuals should seek healthy sources of relief such as regular exercise, eating a balanced diet, and getting adequate sleep," Cochran said.

"Doing so can help maintain a healthy mouth, and potentially help ward off other negative health concerns ... In these stressful times I encourage my patients to pay even more attention to their teeth and gums. And in turn, since preventing gum disease may help reduce overall health care expenses, maintaining a healthy mouth may actually be a stress reliever in itself."

The finding may lead to possible treatments of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and others related to high blood pressure.