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Why it is better to gift your kids with puppies – instead of iPads

It could well be that instead of giving your kids iPads for their videogaming pleasure as a gift, puppies could prove more rewarding. Here’s why.

A study conducted at Harvard University by Gary D. Sherman and Jonathan Haidt has revealed that people who grew up to like pets more than their peers and those who talk to their pets regularly are more intelligent – and not actually weirdos, according to a report published online by Healthy Holistic Living.

A dog, as the cliché goes, is man’s best friend; and what better way to nurture friendship than at a young age?

Here’s something to hold your breath for: Gregory Berns, a neuroscientist has found that “dogs are people, too” albeit in a manner of speaking after performing MRI scans on over a dozen dogs where he established that the same brain region responsible for positive emotions in humans is activated in dogs as well. This explains the bonding of sort, between a pet dog and the “master.”

“Although we are just beginning to answer basic questions about the canine brain, we cannot ignore the striking similarity between dogs and humans in both the structure and function of a key brain region: the caudate nucleus,” Berns said in an article for The New York Times.

He said the caudate is rich in dopamine receptors and plays a key role in anticipation of things people enjoy. “In dogs, we found that activity in the caudate increased in response to hand signals indicating food,” said Berns, professor of neuroeconomics at Emory University and the author of “How Dogs Love Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain.”

So, what is it going to be for your kid?

Staff Report

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