A look inside dogs’ brains has revealed that man’s best friend may be able to distinguish emotions from human facial expressions, researchers at the University of Vienna have found.
The researchers said their findings provide the first evidence that dogs can distinguish specific human emotions from facial expressions.
For the study, the team used machine learning to analyse brain scans from 12 dogs as the animals viewed images of human faces displaying different emotions, the University of Vienna said.
Distinct patterns
The researchers found that brain regions associated with higher cognitive functions and reward processing were activated only when the dogs viewed images of happy strangers.
Anger, fear and sadness did not activate these regions, according to the study, published in the journal iScience by Cell Press.
However, when the researchers analysed activity across the dogs’ entire brains, they identified distinct patterns that differentiated fear from anger and sadness.
The findings provide the first evidence that dogs can distinguish between specific negative human facial expressions, according to the researchers.
Dogs “have evolved alongside us to understand our expressions and cooperate with us, and recognising that this may change the way we communicate with them and care for them,” said lead author Laura Quaja.
Source: CNA
