Dogs' Brains Can Distinguish Between Human Emotions, Study Finds

A new study published in the journal iScience reveals that dogs can distinguish between different human emotions, including negative ones like fear and anger. Researchers trained 14 pet dogs to remain still during MRI scans and showed them images of human facial expressions. The study found that happy faces activated the temporal cortex and caudate nucleus, areas associated with reward processing, while different brain regions were activated when distinguishing between fear and sadness, and between anger and fear. Notably, the dogs did not show a difference in brain activity when distinguishing between sadness and anger, suggesting they may need additional cues like body language. The study, led by Laura Cuaya of the University of Vienna, is the first to demonstrate that dog brains can differentiate between emotions of the same valence. Most of the dogs were border collies, known for their social cue-reading abilities, so results may not apply to all breeds. The findings highlight how domestication may have shaped dogs' ability to interpret human emotions. The researchers plan to adopt a more dog-centric perspective in future studies and investigate how humans and dogs process emotional cues similarly.