Research has provided considerable evidence that dogs can distinguish between positive and negative facial expressions, recognize human emotions, and alter their behavior based on the emotions of their owners.
A study published in the Frontiers of Psychology discovered that the level of oxytocin, otherwise known as the love hormone, in dogs increases up to 130 percent when they receive a suitable hug or kiss from their owners.
And, according to a research team from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, dogs discriminate happiness from other human emotions through a distinct brain pattern. In other words, your dog loves your smile the most.
Introduction
Dogs live in a diverse social environment that includes humans, and their success in fitting in is heavily dependent on their capacity to communicate and interpret human emotional cues.
The study explores the cerebral mechanisms responsible for processing human emotions through facial expressions.
Research
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was used to scan eight awake and trained dogs. In Experiment 1, the dogs were shown happy and neutral human faces. In Experiment 2, the dogs were presented with human faces expressing happiness, anger, fear, and sadness.
Findings
The experiments found increased brain activity in dogs when viewing happy faces, producing a specific neural signature that makes it possible to discriminate happiness from other human expressions.
Analysis
The findings demonstrate the brain sensitivity of dogs toward human emotions and highlight the importance that dogs place on human emotions for communication and interaction.
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