Shouhei Mitsui

Report Miho Nagasawa1,2, Shouhei Mitsui1, Shiori En1, Nobuyo Ohtani1, Mitsuaki Ohta1, Yasuo Sakuma3, Tatsushi Onaka2, Kazutaka Mogi1, Takefumi Kikusui1,* 1Department of Animal Science and Biotechnology, Azabu University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan. 2Department of Physiology, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke, Tochigi, Japan. 3University of Tokyo Health Sciences, Tama, Tokyo, Japan. ↵*Corresponding author.

Humans bond emotionally as we gaze into each other's eyes—a process mediated by the hormone oxytocin. Nagasawa et al. show that such gaze-mediated bonding also exists between us and our closest animal companions, dogs (see the Perspective by MacLean and Hare). They found that mutual gazing increased oxytocin levels, and sniffing oxytocin increased gazing in dogs, an effect that transferred to their owners.