Scientists publish landmark study on how dogs can distinguish between human emotions

Scientists have presented the first neural evidence dogs' brains can differentiate between specific negative human emotions, rather than simply categorising facial expressions as positive or negative. The study by researchers at the University of Vienna, published in the journal iScience, employed functional magnetic resonance imaging scans to examine canine brain activity whilst the animals viewed photographs of human faces.The findings demonstrate happy expressions activate distinct reward-processing regions in dogs' brains. More significantly, whole-brain analysis revealed separate neural patterns for fear, anger and sadness, suggesting domestication has equipped dogs with sophisticated abilities to interpret human emotional...

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