New Research Explores What It Means When A Child Loses A Pet

Publisher's note:  We offer this story as a gentle reminder that loss is a part of living, and that the first instance of this is often as a child suffering the loss of pet--or even a family member.  Loss is Loss, hopefully this article will offer some guidelines of the grieving process as findings show children describe their pets as siblings or best friends and have an existential fairness around whether or not an animal lived until an appropriate age.

Newswise, October 24, 2016 — Given the relatively short lifespans of many pets, it’s not unusual for children to witness the realities of life played out in their homes. But “how children understand death in these moments, and the ideas, feelings and responses they have when their pets die are largely ignored topics,” says Joshua J. Russell, PhD. 

New research by the assistant professor of animal behavior, ecology and conservation (ABEC) at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY, reveals that pets are more than just animals to children.

 “They often see themselves as the center of their pets’ affections,” says Russell, who conducted one-on-one interviews with children between the ages of six and 13. “They describe their pets as siblings or best friends with whom they have strong connections.”

For example, Neville, a 13-year-old boy was shaken by the sudden death of his cat, even though it occurred two years earlier. “I asked Neville how he felt when he learned his cat was struck by a car and he replied, ‘My life was over.’”

Unfortunately, the joy of owning a pet often goes hand-in-hand with the heartbreak of losing one. Children, in particular, “have a distinct sense of existential fairness around whether or not an animal lived until an appropriate age,” Russell explains.

A short lifespan “is normal for hamsters and fish,” according to the children interviewed, “but unexpected for dogs, cats and rabbits.” Similarly, different kinds of deaths mean different things to children.

“Children whose pets lived the extent of their potential lifetimes – or beyond – expressed acceptance upon their deaths,” Russell says.

The children also suggested that euthanasia “was the moral thing to do when a pet is suffering.

” Conversely, children whose pets died unexpectedly “described it as emotionally and morally unfair, and had a much more difficult time reconciling the loss.”

In all instances, family and friends helped the children cope with the loss of their beloved pets through discussions and family rituals.

Although, Russell discovered ambivalence about whether a new pet would lessen their grief.

“There were those who felt it would be wrong to move on to a new pet because they had to honor their relationships with the deceased one.” Several children, however, “explicitly linked getting a new pet with feeling better,” Russell continues.

“They explained it as an opportunity to start over and suggested that replacing a companion animal is more about beginning a new relationship than erasing memories of an old one.”

Neville summarized it best, Russell concludes, when he said, “Sometimes death is tragic, like when a cat is run over by a car. But ultimately, death is part of life and life does go on.”

Joshua Russell’s research involving children and non-human animals is ongoing. He is using a grant from the national Culture & Animals Foundation to investigate how children describe and derive meaning from wildlife recreational experiences, such as hunting and fishing.

Grid Cells' Role in Human Imagination Revealed

Newswise, March 14, 2016 — Evidence of grid cell activity has been seen in healthy volunteers asked to imagine moving through an environment in new UCL (University College London) research funded by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust.

The study, published in Current Biology, used fMRI scans to detect brain activity consistent with grid cell activity in the entorhinal cortex, an important 'hub' for navigation and memory.

The entorhinal cortex is one of the first areas affected by Alzheimer's disease, so the latest research could help to explain why people with Alzheimer's can have problems imagining as well as remembering things.

Grid cells are brain cells that act as an internal coordinate system, firing at a series of locations that form a hexagonal grid across our environment as we move around it.

The latest research provides the first evidence that these cells are also used when we imagine navigating, not only for tracking past or present environments.

"People with Alzheimer's disease can find it difficult to visualise and remember scenes, and our new findings may help to explain why," says senior author Professor Neil Burgess, Director of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience.

"We previously developed a test called the Four Mountains Test, where participants have to hold in mind a mountainous landscape and then try to identify it from a line-up of four landscapes, one of which is the original shown at a different point of view.

“This test has recently been shown to correlate with the progression of Alzheimer's disease. So our latest research suggests that difficulties with the task may be related to a loss of grid cells in the entorhinal cortex."

The study suggests that grid cells are involved in a broader range of cognitive process than previously thought.

"It is particularly exciting to see the involvement of a specific type of neuron whilst people are simply imagining moving through an environment," explains lead author Dr Aidan Horner, who conducted the study at the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and is now at the University of York.

"This suggests that grid cells may contribute to more than just spatial navigation and are involved more broadly in planning and imagining the future. It is particularly difficult to link work at the neuronal level with higher-order cognitive processes. It is therefore incredibly exciting to see evidence for grid cells in imagined navigation, bridging the gap between neurons and mental imagery."

Homeless People Suffer Geriatric Conditions Decades Early, UCSF Study Shows

Newswise, March 9, 2016— Homeless people in their fifties have more geriatric conditions than those living in homes who are decades older, according to researchers at UC San Francisco who are following 350 people who are homeless and aged 50 and over, in Oakland.

Although the people in the study had a median age of just 58, they had more trouble bathing, dressing and eating than 80 year olds who had housing. They had a harder time using transportation, taking their medications, managing money, applying for benefits, arranging a job interview and finding a lawyer. They had higher rates of cognitive and visual impairment and urinary incontinence. And they were more likely to fall and to be depressed.

“Usually, we think of geriatric conditions as affecting much older adults in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s,” said Rebecca Brown, MD, MPH, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and first author of the paper. “We found these conditions were very common in homeless adults with an average age of just 58. We studied a very vulnerable population. Our systems need to be responsive to the challenges that these older adults have.”

About 40 percent of homeless adults reported difficulty with one or more activities of daily living, while a third reported having fallen in the past six months. About a quarter had cognitive impairment, 45 percent had vision impairment and 48 percent had urinary incontinence.

Researchers said their findings, published Feb. 26, 2016 in The Gerontologist, point to the need to develop new ways of helping homeless people, who are increasingly older. Half of single homeless adults are now 50 or older, compared to 11 percent in 1990.

“The traditional way of providing services for homeless people may need to be adapted for the aging population, who may need assistance with activities like using the toilet and are at high risk of falling,” said Margot Kushel, MD, professor of Medicine at UCSF and senior author of the paper.

She said a better alternative for chronically homeless older adults would be to adapt permanent supportive housing to meet the needs of the aging homeless population.

This would include accommodations, such as having personal care attendants, as well as grab bars in the bathroom. Even short-term solutions, like homeless shelters, will need to adapt for the needs of the aging population.

“We need to figure this out, otherwise many homeless people will be placed in nursing homes, for lack of an alternative, even though they would be better off living in less restrictive – and less expensive – environments.”

The study is among the first to look at a broad cross section of the homeless population. Rather than just recruiting subjects from shelters, the researchers also canvassed recycling centers, food lines and homeless encampments to better represent the population.

Three quarters of the people in the study were male and 80 percent were African American. Nearly half experienced their first episode of adult homelessness at age 50 or older.

The majority of participants, 56 percent, reported poor or fair health status, and chronic medical conditions like high blood pressure were common. Nearly three quarters had a history of mental health problems, two thirds smoked tobacco and more than half had lifelong problems with alcohol or drug use

.

Researchers did not find any difference in geriatric conditions between homeless people who camped on the streets, cycled between shelters and hotels, stayed part time with family and friends or had recently lost their rental housing.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences through the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and a Medical Student in Aging Research Program award from the American Federation for Aging Research.

Other authors include Kaveh Hemati of Stony Brook University School of Medicine; Elise Riley, Christopher Lee, Claudia Ponath, Lina Tieu and David Guzman, of UCSF