Sometimes what’s good for the heart is also good for the brain.
A recent study of US adults over the age of 50 found that those who had owned a pet for more than five years performed better on cognitive memory tests than those who lived without a cross-species companion.
The University of Michigan findings suggest that “pet effect‘ can protect more than just the health of our gut and hearts; it could also play a role in our aging brain.
The results are based on a nationwide representative survey from 2010 to 2016, in which more than 20,000 adults aged 50 and over were asked about their pet status.
Using these results years later, the researchers showed that those who ticked the Pet box showed interesting differences in their cognitive scores over the six-year test period.
The effect was only apparent in participants over the age of 65, which is usually the case when symptoms of dementia appear.
If a person in this age group had owned a pet for over five years, the researchers found that their short-term and long-term memory for words was much better than people who didn’t have a pet but were of a similar age.
Each time the participants were tested over the six-year period, the pet cohort showed better results, even as they inevitably got older.
The results are just an association, not conclusive evidence that the “pet effect” actually exists. For example, it could be that people with better cognitive function are more likely to maintain longer pet communities later in life.
However, the study joins many recent studies suggesting that having a pet is good for you. There are numerous theories as to why this is so, all of which have yet to be proven.
For example, having a dog could mean pet owners are forced to get up and exercise more, and daily exercise is closely bound on brain health and functional longevity.
Animals also introduce new bacteria into a household’s cycle that could improve our gut health for the better. By the way, the gut-brain connection is one that scientists have recently realized is far more important than we once thought.
Or maybe pets just make us happy. Studies suggest that having an animal in our lives can bring relief lonliness and relieve chronic stress.
As you age, this may be more important than ever. It has been shown that isolation can change the actual structure and function of our brain.
There is even a possibility that all of these theories are at least partially correct.
Common risk factors for dementia are physical inactivity, isolation, cardiovascular disease, depression/Anxiety and chronic stress.
In short, having a pet could help protect numerous different avenues of cognitive decline at once.
But while most studies of pet ownership have focused on how dogs or cats affect our emotions and physical health, significantly fewer studies looked at how pets affect our ability to think.
Some of these studies yielded no results. But the Michigan researchers believe this is because there’s a lag in how long it takes for a pet to affect our brains, and most previous studies have used brief interactions with unfamiliar dogs to test the effect.
And as we all know, loneliness is not overcome in a day. Nor is friendship built in a single cuddle.
Humans live their lives around their pets, and these animal companions can impact almost every aspect of our lives.
Having someone to talk to throughout the day, even if it’s not your fellow human being, could exercise the verbal networks in our brain.
Pets could keep us young and fit both inside and out.
The study was published in the Journal of aging and health.
