DO SHEEP EXPERIENCE LONELINESS?

Lonely sheep, like lonely people, are much happier when they see pictures of friends and family, according to a British study published last Tuesday.

A group at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge has found that the sight of a friendly face reduces stress in sheep. This discovery, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences, could point to the reason that many of us carry pictures of loved ones.

In the case of the sheep, “seeing a face picture of a friend or family member would be the most effective way of reducing separation anxiety,” said Keith Kendrick, who led the study.

“In this sense sheep may provide a comparison with us carrying around pictures of loved ones in our wallets, handbags, and so on,” he said, adding that children may find comfort in carrying around a photo of their parents.

In the study, Mr. Kendrick and his colleagues put sheep into a darkened barn on their own and showed them various faces, while recording their behavior. Stress was measured by monitoring the number of times each sheep bleated, its movement within the barn, and its heart rate.

Blood samples were taken to measure the levels of cortisol and adrenaline, hormones that are both chemical indicators of stress.

When the sheep were shown faces of sheep familiar to them, they became less stressed, and showed fewer signs of agitation than when they were shown goat faces or triangles. The areas of the brain that control fear and the stress response also showed reduced activation.

All of the indicators of stress measured during the test showed significant reductions. These results provide evidence that face pictures may be useful for relieving stress caused by unavoidable social isolation in sheep, and possibly other animal species, including humans.

Fear and emotion are controlled by the right-hand side of the sheep’s brain. “There is also a remarkable similarity with humans in that the control of fear and other negative emotions, as well as recognition of faces, seems to primarily involve the right side of the brain,” he said.

He has found that sheep, while apparently ruminating mindlessly, could be dwelling on long-absent flock mates, mothers, or even shepherds. Sheep can remember at least 50 sheep faces, even in profile, when most humans would be pushed to tell the animals apart. The animals can also remember 10 or more familiar human faces. And it can take more than two years for these memories to fade.

Mr. Kendrick has spent two decades studying whether the contemplations of sheep and other animals bear any similarities to our own. These insights will help to ensure that they are treated humanely and to shed some light on human emotional disorders.

BL UEBERRIES MAY HELP REDUCE CHOLESTEROL

A substance found in blueberries can cut harmful cholesterol as effectively as a commercial drug, and has the potential for fewer side effects.

The chemical, pterostilbene, could offer an alternative for people who do not respond well to conventional drugs, according to the team that made the discovery.

“Blueberries, which are already known to be rich in healthy compounds, may also be a potent weapon in the battle against obesity and heart disease,” said Agnes Rimando, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, speaking at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia.

Working with rat liver cells, Dr. Rimando, with Dr. Rangaswamy Nagmani and Dr. Dennis Feller from the University of Mississippi, found that pterostilbene was the most potent ingredient when it came to activating the cells’ PPAR-alpha receptor, which plays a role in reducing cholesterol.

Pterostilbene was similar in activity to ciprofibrate, a commercial drug that lowers LDL (“bad”) cholesterol but has a less specific action in the body and can have side effects such as muscle pain and nausea.

Until studies are conducted in humans, no one knows how many blueberries a person needs to eat to lower cholesterol, said Dr. Rimando.

Her study adds to a growing list of health benefits attributed to the fruit, including protection against aging, heart disease, and cancer, in addition to acting as a memory booster.

Pterostilbene is an antioxidant that is similar to resveratrol, another ingredient of grapes and red wine that is also believed to lower cholesterol.

Dr. Rimando said other researchers had found pterostilbene in grapes, but this was the first time it had been found in blueberries.