Lorna Scheel's household in Ypsilanti, MI, is a pet lover's paradise. It includes a 10-year-old silver Labrador named Sargent, an 11-year-old Savannah cat named Otis, a tortoise named Sal, and a snake that joined the family last August.

“The cat is primarily mine,” says Scheel. “Otis will lie across my arm while I'm working. He always wants to be in contact with me.”

That bond has been particularly helpful since Scheel was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in 2015. Her earliest symptoms included problems with balance and falling, which landed her in the hospital. She remembers her cats providing comfort in ways few people could. “They were making sure I was okay,” she says. “They've seen me cry when no one else has. And they continued to love.” (The other cat died suddenly in mid-April.)

The emotional connection between Scheel and her animals is hard to quantify, but scientists have long explored the connection between owners and their pets, and how that relationship affects humans over time.

Now a new study, presented at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting in April, suggests that owning a pet may slow cognitive decline in older adults. “Little is known about the long-term impact of pet ownership on cognitive health,” says Tiffany J. Braley, MD, associate professor of neurology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and senior author of the study. “At least 50 percent of older Americans are pet owners. Given the risk of cognitive disorders in this country, we need a better understanding of how pets might affect long-term brain health.”

To examine that connection, Dr. Braley and co-author Jennifer Applebaum, MD, a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Florida, pulled data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative survey investigating the long-term health, social, and economic implications of aging in the United States. “HRS participants are surveyed every two years and given several brief cognitive tests,” explains Dr. Braley. “We looked at data from 1,369 participants and compared changes in test results over a six-year period between pet owners and non–pet owners.”

The researchers found that people ages 65 and older who owned pets for more than five years scored higher on cognitive tests than people in the same age bracket who did not have pets. “This difference was observed across the entire period of follow-up and was not dependent on a particular type of pet,” says Dr. Braley.

She notes that the increased physical activity, reduced stress levels, and socialization opportunities that often come with owning a pet may be possible buffers against cognitive decline. “Other studies have found an association between cumulative exposure to stress and dementia risk. If owning a pet reduces stress, that may have a direct effect on cognitive health,” she says.

But more research is needed, says Dr. Braley, who cautions against buying a pet just to reduce the risk of cognitive problems. She and other experts urge potential owners to consider the extensive financial, emotional, and social commitment involved in caring for an animal.

Dr. Braley's study joins a handful of others that have examined the effects of pet ownership on human health, including for people with post-traumatic stress disorder and older people experiencing the isolating effects of COVID-19. “Generally, we see increasing evidence that when people interact with their own pets or those of others, they experience less stress,” says Sandra Barker, PhD, founding director of the Center for Human-Animal Interaction in Richmond, VA. “Some of the physiological evidence includes increased levels of oxytocin [a hormone involved in social and maternal bonding] and lower systolic blood pressure in people who are often around animals.”

Dr. Barker and colleagues conducted a preliminary study exploring the physiological effect of interacting with a familiar therapy dog compared with an unfamiliar one. The researchers measured brain waves, blood pressure, heart rate, and salivary cortisol before and after a stressful task and interacting with a therapy dog and noted a significant decrease in stress. “Similar patterns of brain activity indicating relaxation were seen whether participants interacted with their own dog or a therapy dog they hadn't met before,” says Dr. Barker.

The results from Dr. Braley and Dr. Applebaum's tests are encouraging but not surprising, says Marwan N. Sabbagh, MD, FAAN, a neurologist at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. “The effect is modest,” he says, but owning a pet could have a physiological effect on the brain if it improves sleep and mood and leads to more physical activity. “All have been connected to brain health,” he notes.

If ongoing research reveals a causal relationship between pet ownership and cognitive health, Dr. Braley and her colleagues hope the data would result in programs or policies that support older people who want to acquire or keep a pet. “Such policies could include eliminating pet fees in rental housing, expanding pet foster care programs when owners are hospitalized unexpectedly, and lowering the cost of veterinary care for the pets of older people,” says Dr. Braley, who owns three cats.

For now Scheel, who is 50, continues to benefit from her pets. As her physical abilities have diminished, her animals have adjusted. “Sargent knows I can't hold a toy and drag him around, so he no longer pulls on me. He'll play keep-away with the toy instead.

“The animals are so important to me,” Scheel says. “They provide much needed compassion and companionship.”