The Social Neuroscience of HumanAnimal Interaction

This is a nice supplement for a neuroscience elective course or informative reading for the animal lover. PsycCRITIQUES

Lisa S. Freund, PhD, is the chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), U.S. National Institutes of Health. She is a developmental neuropsychologist who is known for her neuroimaging studies with children from different clinical populations and was an NICHD-supported scientist for several years. In the past, she had a private clinical practice that included equine animal-assisted therapy. She is currently responsible for a multifaceted research and training program at the NICHD to promote investigations, both basic and applied, to gain a deeper understanding of the developing brain and associated behaviors. She has been involved with the MarsNICHD public-private partnership since it was established, including participation in the development of the partnership's sponsored workshops and the edited volume on humananimal interaction (HAI), Animals in Our Lives (McCardle, McCune, Griffin, Esposito, & Freund, 2011). Dr. Freunch continues to serve in a leadership role for the HAI research-funding program at the NICHD. Sandra McCune, PhD, is scientific leader for HAI at the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition (part of Mars, Inc.) in the United Kingdom. Her background is in ethology, and she has studied a range of topics in cat and dog behavior and welfare for many years, including aspects of temperament, social behavior, feeding behavior, cognition, and age-related changes in behavior. Her doctoral study focused on the assessment of individual variation in the temperament of cats and its impact on their welfare when confined. She has extensive experience studying HAI from both animal and human perspectives in a variety of contexts. Dr. McCune was instrumental in the establishment of the MarsNICHD public-private partnership on child development and HAI, in planning the workshops sponsored by that partnership, and in editing two previous volumes on HAI under the partnership: How Animals Affect Us: Examining the Influence of HumanAnimal Interaction on Child Development and Human Health (McCardle, McCune, Griffin, & Maholmes, 2011) and Animals in Our Lives: HumanAnimal Interaction in Family, Community, and Therapeutic Settings (McCardle, McCune, Griffin, Esposito, & Freund, 2011). She continues to play a leadership role in the partnership. Layla Esposito, PhD, is a program official within the Child Development and Behavior Branch, NICHD, and oversees the portfolio of research on social and emotional development in children, child and family processes, and humananimal interaction. She is a child psychologist by training and has been involved in a wide variety of research projects related to child and adolescent development. Dr. Esposito, involved with the MarsNICHD public-private partnership since its inception, has developed the research program on HAI that she now oversees and has contributed to the development of HAI-related workshops and publications, including the edited volumes How Animals Affect Us: Examining the Influence of HumanAnimal Interaction on Child Development and Human Health and Animals in Our Lives: HumanAnimal Interaction in Family, Community, and Therapeutic Settings. Nancy R. Gee, PhD, is research manager for the WALTHAM HAI research program. Based at the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition (part of Mars, Inc.) in the United Kingdom, she manages a global portfolio of external university collaborations. This role involves participation in the MarsNICHD public-private partnership, development of other partnerships, and shepherding a new focus of research and practice for HAI at WALTHAM. Dr. Gee also holds the rank of professor of psychology at the State University of New York, Fredonia, where she has conducted research and published in the areas of cognition and HAI. A recipient of multiple grants and awards, she is a member of the editorial advisory boards for

Contributors Introduction Nancy R. Gee, Layla Esposito, Sandra McCune, Lisa S. Freund, and Peggy McCardle I. Cognition: Setting the Stage for Deeper Social Neuroscience What Do Infants Know About Cats, Dogs, and People? Development of a "Like-People" Representation for Nonhuman Animals Paul C. Quinn Visual Attention and Facial Identification in Human and Nonhuman Animals Kun Guo HumanAnimal Interaction and the Development of Executive Functions Daphne S. Ling, Melissa Kelly, and Adele Diamond Integrative Commentary I: Do Companion Animals Support Social, Emotional, and Cognitive Development of Children? Kurt Kotrschal II. Neurobiology: Applying Neuroscience to HumanAnimal Interaction Neural Mechanisms Underlying HumanAnimal Interaction: An Evolutionary Perspective C. Sue Carter and Stephen W. Porges Affiliation in HumanAnimal Interaction Andrea Beetz and Karen Bales The Social Regulation of Neural Threat Responding Casey Brown and James A. Coan Understanding Empathy and Psychopathy Through Cognitive and Social Neuroscience Leah M. Lozier, Kristin M. Brethel-Haurwitz, and Abigail A. Marsh Integrative Commentary II: Shared Neurobiological Mechanisms and Social Interactions in HumanAnimal Interaction Lisa S. Freund III. Science and Research Considerations Genetic Components of Companion Animal Behavior Paul Jones and Sandra McCune Advancing the Social Neuroscience of HumanAnimal Interaction: The Role of Salivary Bioscience Nancy A. Dreschel and Douglas A. Granger From the Dog's Perspective: Welfare Implications of HAI Research and Practice Nancy R. Gee, Karyl J. Hurley, and John M. Rawlings Integrative Commentary III: A Primer in Three Areas Key to Future Research Peggy McCardle IV. Conclusion Final Commentary: Sociality, Therapy, and Mechanisms of Action Nathan A. Fox Future Research: Needs and Promise Layla Esposito, Nancy R. Gee, Lisa S. Freund, Sandra McCune, and Peggy McCardle Index About the Editors