ArticleiScience2024
Unveiling directional physiological coupling in human-horse interactions.
Article in iScience, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Evidence of Physiological Comodulation During Human-Animal Interaction: A Systematic Review.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Mutual wellbeing in an equine-assisted intervention: experimental evidence for the two-way hypothesis and the importance of interaction method.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- From Concept to Perception: Equestrian Definitions of Harmony and Visual Attention in Horse-Rider Evaluation.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Emotional contagion in human-horse interactions: A pilot study investigating the role of stress and body language in emotional transfer.Open veterinary journal · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This research investigates the human-horse bond, aiming to unveil the physiological mechanisms regulating interspecies interactions. We hypothesized observing a physiological synchronization in human-horse dynamics, akin to human interactions. Through time-frequency Granger causality analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) and behavioral data, this study reveals the establishment of bidirectional synchronization in HRV between humans and horses. The coupling directionality is influenced by behavior and familiarity. In exploration scenarios led by horses, bidirectional interactions occur, particularly with familiar individuals. Conversely, during human-led activities such as grooming, physiological connectivity direction varies based on the familiarity level. In addition, the methodology allows in-depth analysis of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system contributions, highlighting their intricate role in the human-horse relationship. Such a physiological coupling estimate, correlated with behavioral data, provides a quantitative tool applicable across contexts and species This holds significant promise for assessing animal-assisted therapies and for applications in sports and various animal-related domains.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.