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Rebecca Johnson and
Richard Meadows pose with Lady Jane. They are conducting
comparative studies to see if the beneficial human chemical
changes that occur with dogs still happen if the animal
is made out of metal and electronics. The results could
suggest new ways to treat a variety of human ailments
such as cancer and depression. Photos courtesy of the
MU College of Veterinary Medicine
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Lady
Jane, the Robot Dog
She's just like any dog, except for
the wires and computer chips
By Randy Mertens
It's no secret that pets make people feel
good. Today, scientific research has measured human chemical
responses that indicate petting a dog can lower a person's blood
pressure, owning a cat can positively change body chemistry,
and caring for an animal will enhance the human body's immune
system.
Those results pose an interesting question: Are these chemical
changes the result of happy interaction or is there something
within the living animal itself that triggers the response?
To find out, two scientists are asking a
robot dog for help.
Richard Meadows, director of the University
of Missouri’s College
of Veterinary Medicine's community practice section, and
Rebecca Johnson, the Millsap Professor of Gerontological Nursing
and Public Policy at MU's Sinclair
School of Nursing, are the two scientists involved. They
are conducting comparative studies to see if the beneficial
human chemical changes that are known to occur with dogs still
happen if the animal is made out of metal and electronics.
The results could suggest new ways to treat
a variety of human ailments like cancer and depression. Combined
with other scientific studies, the results may also give new
insight into ways to enhance other known byproducts of pleasurable
human-animal relationships such as delaying the aging process,
promoting better mental health, and even preventing medical
problems.
The study began in September. Fifty pet owners and 50 non-pet
owners had their blood chemistry measured to establish a baseline
measurement. They will then be connected to a continuous blood
pressure sensing device. They then interact with a real dog.
When the blood pressure drops by five percent, indicating a
change in body chemistry, blood will be drawn and measured for
chemical indicators known to be associated with health and feelings
of well being. The study will then be repeated with the robot
dog and a control group.
The research team is also looking for any
chemical changes that occur between animal owners and their
dogs, and non-animal owners to friendly but unfamiliar dogs.
The team also wants to see if beneficial human chemical effects
are sustained with the robot dog as they are known to be with
a real animal.
The findings will then be compared, revealing
something about, perhaps, part of the age-old mysteries of human-animal
partnership.
Expanding on earlier discoveries
The MU work is an extension on the scientific
findings of Dr. Johannes Stefanus Joubert Odendaal of South
Africa. His contribution to science is not merely noting that
people feel better after interacting with an animal, but measuring
the effect on human body functions. His scientific studies show
that the comfortable feeling you get by interacting with a companion
animal is no accident—it's chemistry. And, his studies
indicate that its effects go way beyond the warm and fuzzy.
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Dr. Odendaal is as a professor and research
development director of the Life Sciences Institute, Technikon
Pretoria, South Africa. Dr. Odendaal is uniquely qualified to
pursue this research. His academic achievements have few rivals
in the world. In addition to his veterinary medical degree,
he holds no fewer than three doctoral degrees: a DVSc (the equivalent
to a PhD) in Veterinary Science, a DPhil in Psychology, and
a PhD in Physiology. In 1993, he earned membership in the Royal
College of Veterinary Surgeons, London.
Dr. Odendaal's latest scientific study involved
six clinically depressed people who were each given a dog to
visit with for 30 minutes a day. The group's blood makeup was
measured before introduction of the animal and found, not unexpectedly,
to be low in the amino acid precursors of chemicals that create
pleasure and joy, serotonin, phenyletylamine, and dopamine.
After the dogs were introduced, the amino acid precursors of
these chemicals increased in their blood serum. The people also
reported that they feel less depressed. This was the first time
such a therapeutic relationship between animals and humans was
scientifically measured. This pilot study could provide a safe,
natural, and effective alternative to treating the clinically
depressed with pharmaceuticals — with the attendant costs
and side effects.
Earlier, groundbreaking studies have shown
that among both humans and dogs, beneficial changes occur in
several key hormone levels including beta endorphin, beta phenylethylamine,
prolactin, dopamine, and oxytocin within about 15 minutes of
a positive interaction between animal and human. The release
of these chemicals not only makes people happy, but also strengthens
the immune system, and, according to Dr. Odendaal’s findings,
counteracts the production of bad chemicals that can lead to
cancer or other diseases. The stress hormone cortisol, decreased
during this study.
To many researchers, the most exciting facet
is evidence from a Dr. Odendaal study that positive human-animal
interaction may delay production of bad body chemicals associated
with diseases such as cancer. It's a double-whammy, too, as
the study indicates an improvement in body chemicals associated
with a healthy immune system. We may soon see a time when people
at risk for certain cancers may be prescribed a pet to help
delay onset of the disease, Dr. Odendaal said.
But, is it the living dog or the pleasant
interaction that triggers the changes?
It is no accident that MU has connected
with Dr. Odendaal. The MU College of Veterinary Medicine recently
launched the Center
for the Study of Animal Wellness (CSAW), a virtual center
aimed at fostering research to demonstrate the beneficial effects
of human-animal interaction. In association with the MU Sinclair
School of Nursing, a major goal of CSAW is developing research
models that reach across species and disciplines. For example,
CSAW is looking into how interacting with a dog can affect anxiety,
depression, fatigue, and sense of coherence among cancer patients.
Funded by someone who knows the significance
The study is being funded through the non-profit
Veterinary
Pet Insurance Skeeter Foundation. The foundation is designed
to help validate and promote the human-animal bond, perpetuate
the positive effects that pets have on human health, and to
educate people about the immense value pets can provide to society.
It was founded in 1980 by Dr. Jack Stephens, a tough Oklahoma
cowboy who went on to earn his DVM from the MU College of Veterinary
Medicine and who later started Veterinary Pet Insurance.
Dr. Stephens is more than an interested
sponsor. He’ll tell you it was his connection to a little
dog named Spanky that helped him survive his cancer.
Diagnosed with stage four throat cancer,
Dr. Stephens was given only six months to live in 1989. Initially,
his little dog Spanky annoyed Dr. Stephens by demanding so much
attention. He followed Dr. Stephens everywhere, including his
radiation treatments. In Dr. Stephens’ long sleepless
nights that followed, Spanky seemed to know how to help. “Sometimes
I’d be real sick afterward and he knew when, where, and
how to approach,” Dr. Stephens said.
Spanky also made him exercise. “If
he hadn’t done that, I would have just sat around feeling
sorry for myself,” Dr. Stephens said. “That is the
downward spiral of cancer that I think that pets definitely
help you overcome.”
Spanky’s insistence of interacting
with Dr. Stephens over a long period of time may ask an intriguing
question — what if Dr. Stephens could have turned off
Spanky as one might a robot dog?
Dr. Stephens’ cancer is now in remission.
He is so convinced of the medical benefits of animals that he
has created a foundation to grant money to researchers investigating
the healing power of pets — including the Center for the
Study of Animal Wellness at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine.
Preliminary results of the study will be
available within a year.
Raising Lady Jane
The $1,500 commercially-available robotic
dog found its way to the MU College of Veterinary Medicine through
some old friends, benefactors Ken and Barbara Levy of St. Louis.
The robot was named Lady Jane in honor of the Levy’s Cavalier
King Charles Spaniel dog who had recently died.
The animated robot represents the latest
in artificial intelligence — a computer’s ability
to sense its surroundings and learn from them. The computer’s
mission, aided by sonar and voice recognition software, is to
sense the presence of people and interact with them in many
of the same ways that a real dog might. The robot also howls,
cries, sneezes, shakes its body, and blinks its angry red and
happy green eyes. A blue light near its tail indicates contentment.
Getting to the point where the mechanical
dog could be used in the research study was a project in itself.
The robot is programmed to come out of the box as an infant.
As it learns, as a real dog would it goes through different
stages: toddler, childhood, adolescence, teenager, and adult.
“When the mechanical Lady Jane came
out of the box she did nothing but lay there and cry,”
said Dr. Rebecca Johnson.
Students assisted with the socialization
of the robot, a process that took several months. The students
stroked the sensors on the robot’s back, chin, and feet.
Occasionally, Lady Jane would react with flashing eyes and an
electronic beep. Left alone, she would cry and squirm.
Lady Jane’s programming finally decided
to leave infancy and to stand up. “There were about seven
or eight of us watching,” Dr. Johnson said. “Suddenly,
she stood up and took a step or two. Everyone applauded.”
Adolescence was a terrible time for Lady
Jane,” Dr. Johnson recalled. “She was totally non-compliant.
She wouldn’t answer with her usual tones.”
Lady Jane stayed so long in adolescence that the researchers
thought there was a mechanical fault. The turning point came
during a social gathering where Lady Jane apparently got over-stimulated
and went under the sofa with her angry red lights flashing.
“She sort of went ballistic that night,
so I put her on the charger,” Dr. Johnson said. “The
next day she raised her paw to signal she was going to be an
adult.”
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Last Update:
April 1, 2008
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