Izuru Nose

Abstract Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) is widely used in therapeutic and educational situations. It is necessary to describe the effects of AAI based on objective indices to facilitate the effective use of AAI. We investigated the effects of interacting with a dog on sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activities by evaluating heart rate variability (HRV) using the Lorenz plot method. Participants were thirty-four healthy volunteers (17 females and 17 males, 20-29 years of age), randomly assigned to one of three groups: the dog group, the stuffed dog group, and the plant group. Participants rated their impressions of the target (the dog, the stuffed dog, or the plant) by touching it between task blocks. The participants completed a mood scale in each block, and we measured their heart rate, respiration rate, and skin conductance response. Results indicated that interactions with the dog increased the cardiac sympathetic index of Lorentz plot, skin conductance responses, and “high-arousal and pleasant mood” score compared to the other conditions. These results suggest that short interactions with a dog activate the sympathetic nervous system, which causes an awakening effect.

Dog personality scales are used to assess the behavioral traits of dogs working in various situations. The purpose of this study was to develop a Japanese version of the Dog Personality Scale (JDPS) of Kubinyi et al. (2009), in order to serve the small-dog-oriented society of Japan. In Study 1, we conducted a pilot survey and factor analysis was performed on the collected data. As a result, four factors were extracted: “Calmness,” “Dog sociability,” “Boldness,” and “Trainability,” which were similar to those in the scale developed by Kubiny. Moreover, we confirmed the reliability of JDPS (Cronbach's alpha = 0.69–0.79). In Study 2, the concurrent validity of the JDPS was confirmed by examining the relationship between the JDPS and the Problem Behavior Checklist (|r| = 0.02–0.55), as well as evaluations by dog owners and dog instructors (r = 0.65–0.88). In Study 3, the predictive validity of the scale was partially confirmed by examining the relationship between JDPS scores and actual behavior of the dogs (Calmness: r = 0.42; Trainability: r = 0.36). The newly developed JDPS has good reliability and validity and can easily be used to assess the behavioral traits of dogs in Japan.

近年、イヌの室内飼育率が増加するなど飼い主との関係はより密接になってきた。それに伴い、これまでには見られなかった様々な問題が生じている。その一つとして、飼い主との分離中のイヌの問題行動があげられる。本研究では、不慣れな場所における飼い主との分離中にイヌが示す行動的、生理的反応について検討した。年齢が低いイヌ（7歳未満）は分離中の行動が活発であり、それに伴い分離中の心拍数も増加していた。年齢が高いイヌ（7歳以上）は分離中の行動は活発ではないが、分離後において血圧の上昇が認められた。活発な行動を示す若いイヌのみが問題視される傾向にあるが、活発な行動を示さない老齢犬においても生理的反応における影響は大きいことが示唆された。

Concealed information, which is information only known to oneself is sometimes crucial for criminal investigation. In this study, we examined cortical activations related to incidental responses to concealed information. We found that cortical responses to stimuli related to concealed information were different from those to other stimuli; the bilateral ventrolateral prefrontal (VLPF) areas, left inferior frontal gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus and right inferior parietal lobule were activated, and among those activated areas, the right VLPF was found to be crucial. Furthermore, we examined by discriminant analysis which cortical areas contribute to the determination of whether the subjects had concealed information. On the basis of the activity in the right VLPF, we were able to correctly identify 32 of the 38 subjects (84.21%) as who had concealed information. These results suggest that the right VLPF may play a crucial role in the incidental processing of concealed information, and we were able to determine whether a subject had concealed information without the need for deceptive responses. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.