Experts Figure Out that Cats and Dogs Make People Happy

Is it possible to feel sad after looking
at this picture? From DesktopNexus.

Who could have seen this coming? Tarumanagara University in Jakarta, that's who. According to an AsiaOneNews report, researchers are finding more and more links between pet ownership and happiness. Monty P. Satiadarma, a psychologist at the Indonesian University, says, "Having a pet allows a person to learn to take care of something and elevates the sense of caring, which positively supports the development of well-being." Satiadarma recently oversaw research on the benefits of pet companionship to the elderly.

In some cases, pets can be even better sympathizers than humans. For instance, a dog's powerful sense of smell can pick up on pheromones secreted by humans in times of emotional distress--signals that other people may not notice.

The benefits are not only emotional, but physical. According to an Australian study, pet owners have lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and lower triglyceride levels. They also have a reduced likelihood of heart disease than those without pets. These results apply even though pet owners consume above-average amounts of meat and fast food for some reason.

So what's the deal with pets? Do you like them or not? Unfortunately, the article doesn't settle the question of which animal is superior--dogs or cats--but feel free to post your opinions on the matter in the comments.

Exercise May Rewire the Brain for Happiness

From Discovery Health

Hello! Let me be the first to welcome you to Monday. This morning brings good news to you exercisers out there:  your brain may be more adept at handling stress. The Springfield, Missouri News-Reader reports on a Princeton study that put animals on a six-week aerobic conditioning program. After six weeks, researchers compared the braincells of the exercise group to those of the sedentary control group. The exercised brains morphed into a "biochemically calm" state, while the sedentary brains continued to react strongly to anxiety. Cardiovascular exercise is apparently better for this than strength training, though both have a noticeable effect.

Unfortunately, the article doesn't go into much detail about which animals were used in the study, but Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain explains a similar study with hamsters. In that study, exercise was shown to increase braincell production, as long as the hamsters exercised willingly (as opposed to being forced). This brings up the issue of neuroplasticity, which I've mentioned once or twice. The long and short of it is that brains are more malleable (in a good way) than people realize.

So if you don't exercise regularly, this is another reason to start. Like most things in life, it takes effort and practice, but the benefits are nearly unimaginable!

Weekend Viewing: The Minds of Animals

Jeffrey Kluger, floating in Charlie Rose's
empty void of an interview room.

Ah, Weekend Viewing. It's the equivalent of a teacher putting in a video for the kids because he or she wants to sleep in the back of the room.

Anyway, Charlie Rose is my favorite interviewer on television. He always has the most interesting guests and he always lets them get to the heart of the matter, instead of just fishing for soundbites. In this interview, we meet Jeffrey Kluger of Time Magazine, who talks about animal consciousness. It turns out that animals are more self-aware than most people realize. He also goes into detail about teaching apes to "speak" using pictograms. The implication is that since many animals have consciousness, perhaps we need to think more about their happiness and emotional wellbeing instead of making life hard for them.

So watch the video, kids. You can see it here:  http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11157, because I don't know how to embed Charlie Rose's content. I'll just be at my desk, working with my head down.

Pet Talk

Picture not by me, unfortunately, but I forgot the source!

Hey gang. Today I'm going to talk about pets and their effect on happiness. It's a little off the beaten path for a weekday, but the daily news isn't so interesting right now. Necessity is the mother of invention, so let's get to it!

A May 2009 article on Physorg reports that Australia has saved around $3.86 billion in healthcare due to the health benefits of pets. Not only do pets increase happiness, they also help children learn empathy, and may help autistic children speak. After further research, prescriptions for pet ownership may not be far off.

So how about it? What benefits do YOU have from pet ownership? Feel free to post pics in the comments to break up this slow news day!