Near-infrared spectroscopy can reveal increases in brain activity related to animal-assisted therapy.
Yuka Morita, Fumio Ebara, Yoshimitsu Morita and 1 others
PMID 28878477WHAT IT FOUND
Healthy students showed more brain activity in the frontal region when viewing a goat picture than a shack picture or resting.
This small pilot used pictures, not therapy animals, and does not show animal-assisted therapy improves patient outcomes.
Key findings
01The NIRS signal was significantly higher during goat viewing than during rest (p=0.011).
02The NIRS signal was significantly higher during goat viewing than during shack viewing (p=0.001).
03The measured task was viewing a picture, not interacting with an animal.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The sample was small and not randomly selected, so it cannot be generalised. The participants were healthy students, not patients receiving animal-assisted therapy. The study measured brain activity while participants viewed pictures, not while they interacted with live animals. Only prefrontal cortex activity was measured, and the authors state that other cortical areas were not analysed. No clinical, behavioural, social, or cost-effectiveness outcomes were examined. The authors note that haemodynamic changes may not directly reflect neural processing and could be confounded by psychiatric-related cortical changes.
Declared interests
The supplied text names a Hitachi Corporation NIRS system but does not report funding or conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that animal-assisted therapy improves patient care. The study measured frontal brain activity in 20 healthy students while they viewed a goat picture, not live therapy animals or clinical outcomes.