NMAAI: Neurodynamic of the Human Brain Underlying Animal-assisted Intervention in Healthy Adults
Study Details
Study Description
Brief Summary
The electrical activity of the brain will be studied using EEG on healthy young adults. The frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) of the participant will be measured during three conditions: presence of a dog, presence of a replica dog, presence of a plant. The researchers hypothesize that the activity in the left frontal hemisphere is greater than in the right during an animal-assisted intervention compared to the control conditions.
| Condition or Disease | Intervention/Treatment | Phase |
|---|---|---|
|
N/A |
Detailed Description
The primary objective of this study is to measure the alpha power spectrum of an electroencephalogram measurements in the prefrontal cortex of healthy adults during an AAI. The investigators aim to measure established biomarkers of motivation and positive emotions in the EEG recordings and associate them with the AAI. The investigators will use three pair of electrodes to focus on the frontal and prefrontal cortex: F3-F4/F7-F8 and Fp1-Fp1 according to the international 10-20 system to calculate three FAAs. The study is a within-subject randomized controlled trial with repeated measurement. All participants are assigned to the same procedures: Each participant will have 3 measurements in 3 independent sessions. In each session the participants are exposed to 3 conditions (in total participant are exposed 3 times to each condition, once per session). The order of the exposition is randomized for every session. The intervention is an animal-assisted intervention. Usually, an animal is involved in a treatment with the aim of enhancing a therapeutic aim. In our study, there is no therapeutic setting but rather just the presence of a dog. The investigators describe "presence" by, whenever possible, a physical contact between the dog and the participant. This contact will be established by instructing the dog to lie down next to the participant and by instructing the participant to gently pet the dog. This contact cannot be guaranteed during the whole duration of the measurement because the dog is a living creature and will not be forced to do anything against its will.
As control conditions the investigators use a replica therapy dog (Joy for All) and a condition with no dog but the presence of a plant. The plant was chosen as to control for the mere presence and engagement with an object and because the impact of the presence of a plant in the frontal brain electrical activity has been studied before. In both control conditions, the intervention will be as similar as possible to the real dog condition with a physical contact between the object and the participants.
Study Design
Arms and Interventions
| Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
|---|---|
| Experimental: Real dog presence of a real dog, contact with participant for 5 minutes |
Other: Animal-assisted intervention
presence of a dog, contact between dog and participant
|
| Active Comparator: replica dog presence of a replica dog, contact with participant for 5 minutes |
Other: Factice dog intervention
presence of a factice dog, contact between factice dog and participant
|
| Active Comparator: plant presence of a plant, contact with participant for 5 minutes |
Other: Plant intervention
presence of a plant, contact between plant and participant
|
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcome Measures
- frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) [3 times + baseline per sessions, 1 hours per week, for 3 weeks]
difference between right and left hemispheres of the log transformed values of the averaged alpha power: (ln[right]-ln[left])
Secondary Outcome Measures
- Intrinsic Motivation Index (IMI) [3 times per sessions, 1 hours per week, for 3 weeks]
questionnaire reporting motivation after a task
- "Multidimensional well-being questionnaire" (MDWBQ) [3 times + baseline per sessions, 1 hours per week, for 3 weeks]
questionnaire reporting general state of mind
Eligibility Criteria
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
-
Able to give informed consent as documented by signature
-
Age ≥ 18 years
Exclusion Criteria:
-
Fear of or allergies to dogs (self-reported)
-
Any acute or chronic disease (e.g. chronic pain, hypertension, heart disease, renal disease, liver disease, diabetes)
-
Current medications (e.g. psychoactive medication, narcotics, intake of analgesics) or being currently in psychological or psychiatric treatment
-
Current or regular drug consumption (THC (24h before visit), cocaine, heroin, etc.)
Contacts and Locations
Locations
No locations specified.Sponsors and Collaborators
- Dr. Karin Hediger
Investigators
None specified.Study Documents (Full-Text)
None provided.More Information
Publications
None provided.- 2023-00206