Hayama Sara, Chang Linda, Gumus Kazim, King George R, Ernst Thomas
John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa Neuroscience and MR Research Program, 1356 Lusitana Street, 7th Floor, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA.
John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa Neuroscience and MR Research Program, 1356 Lusitana Street, 7th Floor, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA; Erciyes University, Faculty of Medicine, Biophysics, Talas Yolu üzeri, Melikgazi, Kayseri 38039, Turkey.
Neuropsychologia. 2016 May;85:278-86. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.03.018. Epub 2016 Mar 26.
Anthrozoological neuroscience, which we propose as the use of neuroscience techniques to study human-animal interaction, may help to elucidate mechanisms underlying the associated psychological, physiological, and other purported health effects. This preliminary study investigates the neural response to animal photographs in pet owners and non-pet owners, and both attraction and attachment to companion animals as modulators of human perception of companion animal photographs. Thirty male participants, 15 "Pet Owners" (PO) and 15 "Non-Pet Owners" (NPO), viewed photographs of companion animals during functional MRI (fMRI) scans at 3 T and provided ratings of attraction to the animal species represented in the photographs. Fourteen subjects additionally submitted and viewed personal pet photographs during fMRI scans, and completed the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS). PO exhibited greater activation than NPO during the viewing of animal photographs in areas of the insula, and frontal and occipital cortices. Moreover, ratings of attraction to animals correlated positively with neural activation in the cingulate gyrus, precentral gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, and superior temporal gyrus during the viewing of representative photographs. For subjects with household pets, scores on the LAPS correlated positively with neural activation during the viewing of owned pet photographs in the precuneus, cuneus, and superior parietal lobule. Our preliminary findings suggest that human perception of companion animals involve the visual attention network, which may be modulated at the neural level by subjective experiences of attraction or attachment to animals. Our understanding of human-animal interactions through anthrozoological neuroscience may better direct therapeutic applications, such as animal-assisted therapy.
我们提出将人类动物学神经科学定义为运用神经科学技术来研究人类与动物的互动，这可能有助于阐明相关心理、生理及其他所谓健康效应背后的机制。这项初步研究调查了宠物主人和非宠物主人对动物照片的神经反应，以及对伴侣动物的喜爱和依恋作为人类对伴侣动物照片认知的调节因素。30名男性参与者，15名“宠物主人”（PO）和15名“非宠物主人”（NPO），在3T功能磁共振成像（fMRI）扫描期间观看伴侣动物照片，并对照片中所展示动物种类的喜爱程度进行评分。另外14名受试者在fMRI扫描期间提交并观看了自己宠物的照片，并完成了列克星敦宠物依恋量表（LAPS）。在观看动物照片时，宠物主人在脑岛、额叶和枕叶皮质区域的激活程度高于非宠物主人。此外，在观看代表性照片时，对动物的喜爱评分与扣带回、中央前回、顶下小叶和颞上回的神经激活呈正相关。对于养宠物的受试者，在观看自己宠物照片时，LAPS得分与楔前叶、楔叶和顶叶上小叶的神经激活呈正相关。我们的初步研究结果表明，人类对伴侣动物的认知涉及视觉注意力网络，这可能在神经层面上受到对动物喜爱或依恋的主观体验的调节。通过人类动物学神经科学对人类与动物互动的理解可能会更好地指导治疗应用，如动物辅助治疗。
