You and your favorite dog may be locked in an oxytocin feedback loop — a chemical boost for the both of you that leaves both parties better at bonding and reading social cues — every time you lock eyes. And it’s no mistake, either: Scientists think this is one of the evolutionary turns that took modern, domesticated dogs away from their wild wolf ancestors. Their findings were reported in a study published on Thursday in Science.
Oxytocin isn’t the “moral molecule” that some have sold it as, but this hormone is definitely important. Researchers are pretty sure that it has something to do with pair bonding, particularly between mothers and infants.
“Rather than virtue incarnate, oxytocin is more of an all-purpose social molecule,” Ed Yong wrote for his blog at National Geographic. “It probably acts as a spotlight that draws our attention to social cues.”
Now it seems that dogs and humans may benefit from the chemical in a similar way. In the new study, researchers found that dog owners and their dogs had higher levels of oxytocin in their urine after sustaining eye contact with each other. Wolves that were raised as pets didn’t show the same boost when interacting with their owners.
In the same way that dogs are known to respond to pointing in ways that wolves do not — understanding the gesture as a cue from humans and following it accordingly — it could be that they’ve developed the ability to gain meaning, both practical and emotional, from eye contact.
“The origin of the function of oxytocin is breast feeding and nurturing,” said study author Takefumi Kikusui of Azabu University. “However, in our study we demonstrated that a non-reproductive relationship — a human and dog — show the same positive loop. “
Kikusui and his colleagues believe that this feedback loop explains the warm feelings humans have towards their dogs.
