Watching animal videos is
good for one’s health and
brain, studies say
By Gina T. Reilly
T
here’s a video of a mother dog
teaching “discipline” to her puppies.
“Woof! Woof!” she barks at her five
unruly yapping puppies, who instantly
go into sitting position and stop barking.
“They are better at imposing discipline than
humans,” a Facebook user writes.
Another old video that has gone viral is
that of a monkey who saves a friend who fell
unconscious after being electrocuted at a
train station in India.
The Internet contains hundreds of
thousands of animal videos that have been
shared away on social media, including
dancing birds, clumsy cats, emotional dogs,
pigs acting like dogs, a goat demanding a
belly-rub and what have you. Watching these
adorable videos gives a thunder of quick joy,
and for some, it can become quite addictive.
“I binge-watch animal videos,” said Lorilyn
Doson, a self-employed mother who lives in
Tamuning. “Sometimes when I’m busy I’d
see a video posted on Facebook and then I
just fall into the rabbit hole and continue
watching more. To some, it may seem like a
waste of time, but to me it’s therapeutic.”
These tail-wagging and heart-warming
videos may not be real medicine but they
can heal, according to several studies.
It’s good for one’s brain, according to
University of Victoria neuroscientist Olav
Krigolson said.
“You are not expecting to see something
cute and cuddly and then you see it and it’s
perceived by the brain as a reward,” said
Krigolson.
A 2014 study conducted by The Medi
School in Indiana University examined the
cat video phenomenon and surveyed almost
7,000 about their cat-watching habits.
their feline antics and it’s hard to beat for a
positive emotional boost,” Myrick wrote. “
Another study led by James McNulty of
Florida State University found that watching
cute videos together could improve marital
satisfaction. Researchers took 144 couples
who had been married for less than five
years and had them complete marital
satisfaction surveys. “These findings even
surprised the researchers but showed that
there is a real potential benefit to viewing
pictures of cute animals and that this can
help people to feel more positively about
other things (and people) in their lives as
well,” Scott wrote.
Jessica Gall Myrick, PhD, assistant
professor at The Media School, said the
study found that “watching cats and kittens
go berserk, make funny expressions and hide
in crazy places might actually be good for
us.” Another series of studies by researcher
Barbara Fredrickson found that by lifting
one’s mood, “people can broaden the range
of options they see in their lives, leading
themselves to become more aware of
potential resources available to them and to
build upon those resources.”
“I think it is mostly the content of these
videos that makes us feel better. [The cats]
typically make us laugh and smile with So, experts say, binge-watching animal
videos may not something one should feel
guilty about.
September 2019 I Furry Times I 5