Effects of Equine Interaction on Mutual Autonomic Nervous System Responses and Interoception in a Learning Program for Older Adults

Equine-assisted learning (EAL) may improve the health of older adults, but scientific data are sparse. This study investigated whether people aged 55 and older show increased heart rate variability (HRV) during EAL and awareness of bodily sensations that are overall pleasant. Subjects (n = 24) participated in mindful grooming during which they slowed their breathing and brushed a horse while noticing sensations in their body and watching the horse’s reactions. The subject’s and horse’s HRV were recorded simultaneously before, during, and after mindful grooming. For control, the same subjects performed mindful grooming with a plush simulation horse. During exit interviews, participants described their sensations. Words and gestures were categorized as positive, neutral, or negative. During mindful grooming, human heart rate and HRV (standard deviation of interbeat interval, SDRR) increased compared to baseline (paired t-test, t = –4.228, p \u3c 0.001; t = –3.814, p = 0.001), as did the percent very low frequency (%VLF) component of HRV (t = –4.274, p \u3c 0.001). Equine HRV values remained in the normal range, mostly VLF. In 10 cases, during mindful grooming, horse and human HRVs showed matching VLF frequencies. Grooming the simulation horse significantly elevated SDRR but did not alter %VLF. Exit interviews revealed significantly more positive gestures (t = –3.814, p = 0.031) and fewer negative gestures (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Z-statistic = –2.12, p = 0.036, p \u3c 0.05) when participants spoke about the real horse compared to the simulation. These findings demonstrate that during mindful grooming people aged 55 and older benefit by experiencing increased HRV, heightened awareness of pleasant bodily sensations, and often some synchronization of their HRV frequency spectrum with that of their horse, possibly reflecting emotional bonding

Heart rate variability study using phase response curve

A noninvasive phase resetting experiment on human subjects was investigated. The phase response curve was estimated and was used to demonstrate cardiac phase resetting due to a vagal input. The estimated running phase response curve showed that the cardiac cycle resetting depended on the time and the amplitude of the vagal stimulation. The phase response curve was then studied using time circle analysis, topological analysis and nonlinear dynamics analysis. Also phase entrainment and stimulus frequency dependence of the phase response were evaluated. Further, the Van Der Pol model, Generalized Additive model and Knight and Peskin\u27s model were used to simulate the phase resetting process so that the characteristics of the phase resetting can be better understood

Inter- and intra-species communication of emotion: chemosignals as the neglected mediumi

Human body odors contain chemosignals that make species-specific communication possible. Such communication is without communicative intent and is generally below the threshold of consciousness. Human recipients of these chemosignals produced during emotional conditions display a simulacrum of the emotional state under which the chemosignal was produced. The investigation of an inter-species transfer of emotions via chemosignals was initiated by considerations of the historically anchored interdependence between humans and domesticated species, such as dogs and horses. Indeed, experiments with dogs have demonstrated that human body odors produced under emotional conditions of happiness and fear led dogs to manifest corresponding emotions to those experienced by humans. Preliminary data from horses also show that human body odors collected under fear and happiness conditions activate the autonomic nervous system of horses differentially. These studies indicate the possibility of a road to open our understanding of inter-species emotional communication via chemosignals.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Are horses capable of mirror self-recognition? A pilot study

Mirror Self-Recognition (MSR) unveils complex cognitive, social and emotional skills and it has been found only in humans and few other species, such as great apes, dolphins, elephants and magpies. In this pilot study, we tested if horses show the capacity of MSR. Four subjects living socially under naturalistic conditions were selected for the experiment. We adopted the classical mark test, which consists in placing a coloured mark on an out-of-view body part, visible only through mirror inspection. If the animal considers the image as its own, it will use its reflection to detect the mark and will try to explore it. We enhanced the classical paradigm by introducing a double-check control. Only in the presence of the reflecting surface, animals performed tactile and olfactory exploration of the mirror and looked behind it. These behaviors suggest that subjects were trying to associate multiple sensory cues (visual, tactile and olfactory) to the image in the mirror. The lack of correspondence between the collected stimuli in front of the mirror and the response to the colored mark lead us to affirm that horses are able to perceive that the reflected image is incongruent when compared with the memorized information of a real horse. However, without replication of data, the self-directed behavior towards the colored marks showed by our horses cannot be sufficient per se to affirm that horses are capable of self-recognition

Microsaccade-rate indicates absorption by music listening

The power of music is a literary topos, which can be attributed to intense and personally significant experiences, one of them being the state of absorption. Such phenomenal states are difficult to grasp objectively. We investigated the state of musical absorption by using eye tracking. We utilized a load related definition of state absorption: multimodal resources are committed to create a unified representation of music. Resource allocation was measured indirectly by microsaccade rate, known to indicate cognitive processing load. We showed in Exp. 1 that microsaccade rate also indicates state absorption. Hence, there is cross-modal coupling between an auditory aesthetic experience and fixational eye movements. When removing the fixational stimulus in Exp. 2, saccades are no longer generated upon visual input and the cross-modal coupling disappeared. Results are interpreted in favor of the load hypothesis of microsaccade rate and against the assumption of general slowing by state absorption

The influence of dogs’ presence on children’s performance on cognitive tests: Implications for clinical practice.

Evidence suggests that cognitive assessments can evoke feelings of stress for some children, potentially inhibiting cognitive performance and undermining the validity of results. Dogs have been found to be an unobtrusive form of social support for children in other settings, potentially offering a solution to this problem. The aim of this paper was to critically review the literature to explore what effect, if any, dogs may have on children’s performance on cognitive tests, and consider implications for clinical practice. To do so, five databases were systematically searched and returns were screened for eligibility. Studies were collectively described and then appraised using a common appraisal framework. Nine studies exploring the relationship between dogs and cognitive functioning in children (≤18 years) were identified in the literature search. All used an experimental methodology and were of good to fair quality. Together, results indicated that the presence of a dog could reduce stress and enhance cognitive performance across various domains, lending experimental evidence to support the idea that dogs may support children undergoing cognitive assessments. Further trials are now required to explore the generalizability of these associations to clinical settings and implications for test validity. Further implications for policy and practice are discussed

2013 Conference Abstracts: Annual Undergraduate Research Conference at the Interface of Biology and Mathematics

URC Schedule and Abstract Book for the Fifth Annual Undergraduate Research Conference at the Interface of Biology and Mathematics Date: November 16-17, 2013Plenary Speaker: Mariel Vazquez, Associate Professor of Mathematics at San Francisco State UniversityFeatured Speaker: Andrew Liebhold, Research Entomologist for the USDA Forest Servic

Learning to Read Equine Agency: Sense and Sensitivity at the Intersection of Scientifific, Tacit and Situated Knowledges

The aim of this essay is to address the challenges and problems in communicating with horses and interpreting their communication in everyday handling and training situations. We seek ways to learn more about equine communication and agency in the prevention of cruelty against animals and in enhancing animal welfare. We ask how it would be possible to learn to read the subtle signs of equine communication and agency in a sensible, sensitive, and ethical way to increase the health and wellbeing of horses that humans interact with. We have placed this theoretical examination in a multidisciplinary framework that consists of humananimal studies, feminist posthumanities, cultural and literary studies, and equine social science, as well as applied insights from, for example, discussions on power, ethics, and politics. Our emphasis is on the need for situated knowledges, among scientific and tacit knowledges, in order to ‘become with’ a horse in a relationship based on mutual communication and trust. These different types of knowledges are central to an ‘animal politics’ that is organised politically on behalf of animals and motivated by an ethics of care and responsibility, echoing recent requests for a relational ethics in interactions with animals in multispecies societies and more-than-human worlds.</p