Kaman Mok

Neural and behavioral mechanisms facilitating canine-human connection

Started May 25, 2023

Abstract or project description

Demand for service dogs has been on the rise in recent years, as the canines have proven useful in assisting children and adults with a wide range of disabilities. Service dogs have been proven to help improve quality of life in individuals with disabilities, such as vision or mobility impairments, people with autism, diabetes, seizures, and many more.. In order to develop a successful service relationship with humans, dogs need to process complex emotional and physical cues indicated by their owners. Here we explore the neural mechanisms by which dogs are able to form these connections with humans. We focus on the brain activity of service dogs and how they react to certain stimuli when recognizing human action, and how humans play a part in their learning process, which makes them great service animals. Through studying dog cognition and behavior we can implement changes to increase efficiency when it comes to training future service dogs, thus saving more time and money.