Hidden canine reactions exposed: Scanning reveals how dogs process human facial distress

Dogs can distinguish between different negative human emotions by activating specific neural patterns in the brain, according to a study conducted by researchers from Hungary, Austria, and Mexico. The team recorded distinct neuronal activity when dogs viewed photographs of sad, angry, and fearful faces. The findings were published in the journal iScience. The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to gather data. The study involved dogs of various breeds, though border collies made up the majority of the sample. To avoid the influence of personal attachment to owners, the animals were shown photographs of unfamiliar people with diverse facial expressions. All dogs participated voluntarily and remained in the scanner without physical restraint. Neural Response to Positive and Negative Emotions Initial findings showed that happy faces triggered the strongest BOLD signal—a measure of blood oxygen levels—in the right temporal cortex. To determine if this region responded exclusively to happiness or to emotions in general, the authors applied machine learning.