Welcome back to another edition of Cool Stuff Ride Home. I'm Reggie Rizzou on today's episode,

how dogs can not only just help your stress levels, they can also assist with your mental health.

Plus, are dogs really good at judging people? We'll take a look at what science says. That's all

coming up on cool stuff.

If you ever thought your dog or cat is more than just a cuddle buddy, science is starting

to agree with you.

New research is painting a compelling picture of how our four-legged companions do more

than just fetch balls or purr on our laps.

They're quietly transforming how we handle stress

and even how our brains age.

So let's dig into how this is impacting our lives.

In a recent survey of 3,000 U.S. adults,

over one-third confessed to feeling completely overwhelmed

by stress on most days.

With stress linked to everything from heart disease to dementia, the need for simple, effective relief is more urgent than ever.

This is where we can look at the pets.

Researchers from the University of Denver's Institute for Human Animal Connection

wanted to dig deeper than previous studies that

showed dogs lowering stress-related cortisol.

They explore not one, but two major stress pathways.

The HPA access, which manages long-term stress, and the SAM access, which deals with

quick response flight or flight scenarios.

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