A new study that was conducted found out that watching cute animal videos is linked to better overall health status.
The University of Leeds, the school that carried out the study, wanted to look if there was a science to the way we feel after watching cute animal videos on our devices.
In the study, researchers asked the participants to watch images and videos of beautiful looking animals for half an hour.
They then tested the blood pressure and the heart rate of the participants and were eventually asked to rank the anxiety levels that they have.
Dr. Andrea Utley, an associate professor at the University of Leeds, talked with CNN about the videos that contestants watched.
She said:
There were some kittens, there was puppies, there were baby gorillas. There were quokkas. You know — the usual stuff that you would expect.
This is the type of study that I would love to take part in because we are talking about adorable animals.
The study was carried out in the UK during the month of December last year.
The researchers went with December because cold winter months are known to cause people to become less happy and it was done when students and participants were preparing for something.
It was done to see if anxiety levels and blood pressure relaxes after watching the videos.
Talking about the study, Utley said:
I was quite pleasantly surprised that during the session, every single measure for every single participant dropped some — heart rate reduced, blood pressure reduced. When they left, they filled the questionnaire in again and indicated that they were feeling less anxious.
According to the study, the average blood pressure for the people participating in the study fell from 136/88 to 115/71.
The ideal blood pressure is anywhere from 90/60 to 120/80.
Researchers also noted out that the average heart rates fell 6.5 percent to 67.4 beats per minute and anxiety fell by 35 percent.
Participants of the study were using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, a type of tool that clinicians use to diagnose how anxious someone is.
Researchers also found that participants wanted to watch videos compared to images.
Participants preferred videos that show animals interacting with humans.
What are your thoughts about this new study? Let us know what you think by leaving down a comment below!