狗能反映主人的壓力水平

研究人員發(fā)現，狗能反映主人的壓力水平

If the dead-end job, the pokey flat and the endless failings of the neighbours are getting on your wick, then spare a thought for the dog.

如果死氣沉沉的工作、狹小的公寓和鄰居們沒完沒了的找麻煩讓你心煩意亂，那請為你的狗狗考慮一下吧。

In research that confirms what many owners will have worked out for themselves, scientists have found that the household pets are not oblivious to their owners’ anxieties, but mirror the amount of stress they feel.

在一項研究中，科學家們發(fā)現家養(yǎng)寵物并不是對主人的焦慮視而不見，而是反映了主人們所感受到的壓力。

The finding comes from a study of cortisol, a stress hormone, which circulates in the blood and leaves its mark in strands of hair. Over time, as the hormone is bound into the growing hair, each shaft becomes a biological record of the stress an individual experiences.

這項發(fā)現來自于對皮質醇的研究，皮質醇是一種壓力荷爾蒙，在血液中循環(huán)，并在頭發(fā)上留下印記。隨著時間的推移，皮質醇會融進毛發(fā)中，進而成為個體壓力水平的生物學記錄。

After engaging the willing services of 25 border collies, 33 Shetland sheepdogs, and the animals’ female owners, researchers in Sweden found that higher cortisol in human hair was matched by more of the hormone in the dog hair. All of the dogs lived indoors with their owners.

瑞典的研究人員對25只邊境牧羊犬、33只設得蘭牧羊犬和這些動物的女主人進行研究后發(fā)現，人類頭發(fā)中皮質醇含量越高，狗頭發(fā)中的激素含量就越高。所有參與研究的狗都和主人都住在室內。

“This is the first time we’ve seen a long-term synchronisation in stress levels between members of two different species,” said Lina Roth, an ethologist who led the work at Linköping University in Sweden. “We haven’t seen this between humans and dogs before.”

“這是我們第一次看到，兩個不同物種的壓力水平長期同步，”瑞典林雪平大學的動物行為學家Lina Roth說。“我們以前從未在人類和狗之間看到過這種情況。”

Roth’s team measured concentrations of cortisol in short strands of hair cut close to the skin in the winter and summer of 2017 and 2018. The link between human and dog cortisol held through the seasons, but was higher in dogs in the winter.

Roth的團隊在2017年和2018年的冬夏兩季，對靠近皮膚的毛發(fā)中皮質醇的濃度進行了測量。結果顯示人和狗之間的皮質醇水平一直保持穩(wěn)定同步，到了冬天，狗的皮質醇含量會更高一點。

To investigate whether canine lifestyle had an impact on stress levels, about half of each breed enrolled was involved in regular training and competitions to test skills such as obedience and agility. The rest of the dogs were regular companion pets.

為了調查狗的生活方式是否會對壓力水平有影響，參與調查的狗有一半參加了定期的訓練和比賽，以測試諸如順從和敏捷性等技能。其余的狗都是普通寵物。

Writing in Scientific Reports, the researchers describe how stress in the competing dogs more closely mirrored that in the owners, potentially because the animals had formed a stronger bond with their owners than the companion animals.

在報告中，研究人員描述了賽犬的壓力與主人的壓力更加緊密相連，這可能是因為狗狗與主人建立了超過同伴的緊密關系。

Roth believes that there is more to the synchronisation of stress levels than simply sharing the same environment. When the scientists looked at whether dogs had a garden to play in; the hours the owner worked, and whether the dogs lived with other dogs, they found no effect on dog cortisol levels.

Roth認為，壓力水平的同步性不只是因為與主人共有相同的環(huán)境。當科學家們觀察狗是否有花園玩耍，狗主人的工作時間，以及它是否與其他狗一起生活時，狗的皮質醇水平并沒有影響。

What did have an effect on the animals’ stress levels was their owners’ personalities, as assessed by a standard survey. The greatest factor was neuroticism.

根據一項標準調查評估顯示，對動物壓力水平有決定影響的是主人的性格，尤其是主人的情緒。

According to the study, owners who scored higher on neuroticism tended to have dogs with lower hair cortisol levels. One explanation, said Roth, is that more neurotic owners may seek more comfort from their pets, and the onslaught of hugs and attention reduces cortisol in the dogs. “We suggest that dogs, to a great extent, mirror the stress levels of their owners,” the scientists write in the journal.

根據這項研究，主人的情緒越穩(wěn)定，寵物體內的皮質醇水平越低。Roth表示，原因之一是，情緒越穩(wěn)定的主人越能夠在寵物身上得到安慰，主人的擁抱和關心會降低狗的皮質醇含量。科學家們在期刊上寫道：“我們認為狗在很大程度上反映了主人的壓力水平。”

If the findings are enough to make stressed dog owners feel guilty, Roth has some words of reassurance. “Most dog owners are aware that their dogs pick up a lot of signals from them, even the unintentional ones, but it’s still beneficial to be together,” she said.

如果調查結果讓那些壓力過大的狗主人感到內疚的話，Roth下面的話可能會讓你感到安慰：“大多數狗主人都意識到，他們的狗能從他們身上接收到很多信號，即使是無意發(fā)出的信號，但在一起仍然是有益的。。”

While the study claims to be the first evidence of different species synchronising their stress levels over the long term, short-term stress contagion has been seen in members of the same species before. In 2016, James Burkett at Emory University in Atlanta showed that monogamous prairie voles would react to a stressed partner by ramping up their own stress levels and grooming them more.

雖然相關方面聲稱這份研究是第一份說明不同物種長期以來壓力水平互相映射的研究，但以前的研究中曾發(fā)現過相同物種間的短期應激傳染。2016年，亞特蘭大埃默里大學的詹姆斯·伯克特(James Burkett)指出，一夫一妻制的草原田鼠對壓力伴侶的反應是，增加自身的壓力水平，并對其進行更多的梳理。

Burkett, who was not involved in the latest study, said the work added to a growing body of research showing that dogs empathised with their owners.

Burkett并沒有參與這項最新的研究，他說這項研究為越來越多的研究提供了新的證據，表明狗狗會同情它們的主人。

“Dogs are affected by their owners’ distress and respond with consoling behaviours,” he said. “We now know that dogs are also affected by their owners’ personalities and stress levels. While this may be common sense for dog owners, empirical research is still catching up to our intuitions about animal empathy.”

他說:“狗狗會受到主人悲傷情緒的影響，它們會做出安慰的反應。”“我們現在知道，狗也會受到主人性格和壓力水平的影響。雖然這可能是狗主人的常識，但現在研究證實了我們的直覺。”