DISCOVERY

DOG TEARS

Japanese researchers have said that canines may be genuinely thrilled when they see their human companions after a long period of absence. The tears are believed to deepen the bond between dogs and their owners. Based on the behavior of 22 dogs, the study looked at the reactions of dogs reunited with their owners and with other people they knew.

To test their theory, academics at Azabu University and Jichi Medical University placed strips of paper under the eyes of the dogs during normal interaction with their owners and a minute before reuniting with them after five-to-seven hours of separation.

They discovered when the dogs saw their owners; it was the only time they shed tears. There was not the same level of increased tear production when the dogs were reunited with the people they were familiar with but were not their owners.

To see whether the tears were linked to their emotions, the researchers applied a solution containing oxytocin, a key hormone involved in bonding, to the dogs.

After using the hormone, the dogs' tears significantly increased. While dogs are known to cry to keep their tear ducts clean, it has not been linked to their emotional response before.

"We had never heard of the discovery that animals shed tears in joyful situations, such as reuniting with their owners," said Takefumi Kikusui, one of the study's authors in the journal Current Biology.

Classical music calms dogs more than audiobooks

Four-legged friends ride the waves at a surf contest

Loveable Labrador befriends 15 ducklings

While owners might be more familiar with tail-wagging or face-licking from their ecstatic pets, a dog's tears can also affect their human companion.

A dog's gaze stimulates the secretion of oxytocin, making owners more nurturing or protective of their pets.

The scientists also found owners felt more desire to care for their animals when they saw them with teary eyes.

"Their tears might play a role in the deepening of mutual relationships and further leading to interspecies bonding," the researchers wrote. 

Visit source by clicking here. 

HOLDING A GRUDGE.

Holding a grudge is when you harbor anger, bitterness, resentment, or other negative feelings long after someone has done something to hurt you. Usually, it's in response to something that's already occurred; other times, a grudge may develop after simply perceiving that someone is against you or means you harm whether or not they actually do. Grudges also often feature persistent rumination about the person and/or incident at the center of your ill-will.

Grudge-holding can adversely impact your mental health in a variety of ways. Most importantly, harboring anger will, generally, just make you feel angrier.1 Instead of accepting and moving on from a negative experience or finding an acceptable resolution, holding on can trap you in a loop of resentment, bitterness, hopelessness, emptiness, or enragement.

Simply put, harboring negative feelings naturally makes you more exposed to these more unpleasant emotions and thoughts, which can skew your mindset toward negativity, either slowly or in a swift shift. And a focus on negativity can dampen your overall well-being.

Reliving the negative incident and emotions over and over can be upsetting, draining, and frustrating, as nothing gets resolved or changes, except, perhaps, that you end up feeling more enraged or hurt. Studies show that ruminating about an unpleasant event makes it feel like the incident happened much more recently, despite the passage of time.

Additionally, suppose you ultimately exaggerate the experience or issue in your mind, which is fairly common. In that case, the act of holding the grudge may even become more painful than the event itself. And sadly, this is a self-inflicted wound that will likely just make you feel worse.

Built-up resentment and uncensored internal fury create the potential for added stress, worry, defensiveness, aggression, and negativity, which can also increase your propensity for mental health concerns, such as:

Anxiety

Aggressive behavior

Depression

Emotional dysregulation

Other mood disorders

Self-harm or suicidal ideation

Researchers have shown that unhealthy emotional regulation, blaming others, suppressing emotions, and holding on to these negative feelings all beget more negative feelings. On the other hand, forgiveness and acceptance often lead to a more emotionally stable mindset, less stress, and healthier well-being.

Additionally, holding on to anger makes you more likely to fixate on revenge, including acts of aggression. Plus, living under stress leads to burnout.

Visit source by clicking here. 

PETTING A DOG. 

Scientists studied 249 students to look at what happened when they stroked one of the animals.

It was known that stroking cats or dogs can boost your mood, but now there is real research to prove the physiological effects of doing so.

The team from Washington State University found that there were huge reductions in the stress hormone cortisol from just 10 minutes of interaction.

Patricia Pendry, an associate professor in WSU’s Department of Human Development, said: ‘Students in our study that interacted with cats and dogs had a significant reduction in cortisol, a major stress hormone.

‘

Just 10 minutes can have a significant impact.’

The results were published in the journal AERA Open as the first study demonstrating reductions in students’ cortisol levels during a real-life intervention rather than in a laboratory setting.

The 249 college students who took part were randomly divided into four groups.

The first group received hands-on interaction in small groups with cats and dogs for 10 minutes. They could pet, play, and hang out with the animals.

To compare the effects of different exposures to animals, the second group observed other people petting animals while they waited in line for their turn.

The third group watched a slideshow of the same animals available during the intervention, while the fourth group was ‘waitlisted.’

Those students waited for their turn quietly for 10 minutes without their phones, reading materials, or other stimuli but were told they would experience animal interaction soon.

Several salivary cortisol samples were collected from each participant, starting in the morning when they woke up.

Once all the data was crunched from the various samples, the students who interacted directly with the pets showed significantly less cortisol in their saliva after the interaction.

These results were found even considering that some students may have had very high or low levels.

Professor Pendry said: ‘College is stressful. Students have classes, papers, and exams, but they also often have work, bills to pay, and so many other pressures common in modern life.

‘We already knew that students enjoy interacting with animals and that it helps them experience more positive emotions.

‘What we wanted to learn was whether this exposure would help students reduce their stress in a less subjective way, which it did.

‘This is exciting because reducing stress hormones may, over time, have significant benefits for physical and mental health.’

Visit source by clicking here. 

FART. 

Flatulence, sometimes called passing wind, passing gas, or farting is a biological process that helps release gas from digestion.

They’re silent and odorless in some cases, but farts can become uncomfortable when loud and foul-smelling.

Smelly gas is not uncommon and is often considered normal. Some foods or medications can cause excessively smelly farts.

However, there are some instances when smelly farts can indicate an underlying infection, digestive issues, or a disorder.

Smelly farts don’t necessarily mean your body isn’t in good health. In fact, farting is often a sign of a healthy digestive system, and many people experience strongly-odored flatulence.

Only 1 percent of the gas humans release actually smells bad. The cause of the odor is intestinal bacteria that produce compounds containing sulfur. Most farts are caused by swallowed air or healthy gut bacteria that release gas after breaking down food.

Because most of our gas is odorless and smelly gas can be caused by various factors, some farts are bound to smell worse than others.

An average person in good health typically passes gas 12 to 25 times per day. People tend to fart the most during sleep because the amount of gas in their intestines increases throughout the day.

Visit source by clicking here.