Exploring the Effects of Service Dogs: Enhanced Working Memory in Police Officers With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with decreased executive functioning due to an imbalance in the frontal-amygdala circuit. Researchers theorize that an overactive amygdala increases the demand for regulating stress-related responses, thus depleting the prefrontal cortex of the limited resources needed for executive functions such as working memory. We hypothesized that working memory performance in people with PTSD could be partially restored by the presence of their dog, potentially working as a stress buffer. This study investigated the effect of the presence of a dog on working memory performance in police officers (n = 49) either with PTSD (n = 25) or without PTSD (n = 24), using behavioral and electrophysiological measures. Working memory performance was assessed on a 1-back task, both in the presence and absence of the participants’ companion or service dog. We measured event-related potentials (ERPs), with a focus on the N2 and P3 components. The results show that police officers with PTSD exhibited improved working memory performance in the presence of their dog, as evidenced by enhanced task performance and a larger N2 component amplitude to target stimuli compared with when the dog was absent. In contrast, the police officers without PTSD showed, in the absence of the dog, a better task performance and a larger N2. The findings suggest that the presence of a dog enhances working memory performance in police officers with PTSD.
Source: Anthrozoös
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4414919455