Aug 10, 2026 08:37 PM
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1137798
EXCERPTS: Scientists—and dog lovers—have long known that dogs are remarkably good at interpreting our laughs, frowns, and tears. But the biology behind this ability has remained largely unexplored until now.
In a study published in the Cell Press journal iScience on August 7, researchers peered inside the brains of dogs as they viewed images of various human expressions. The brain scans revealed that dogs process smiles in a unique brain region and, for the first time, provided evidence that dogs can distinguish between negative facial expressions, including anger, sadness, and fear.
“Humans are really good at picking up small details on the face, and so are dogs,” says first author Raúl Hernández-Pérez from the University of Vienna. “This makes dogs very interesting. By studying their brains, we can understand what adaptations have developed to support their remarkable social and emotional understanding of humans.”
[...] the canine brain was not merely sorting the world into good and bad, the team found. A whole-brain analysis revealed distinct patterns of activity that separated fear from anger and sadness, providing the first evidence that dogs can distinguish between specific negative facial expressions.
The researchers say that this ability does not mean that dogs experience emotions exactly as humans do. Also, a still photo of a human face doesn’t tell the whole story; in real life, dogs watch human body language, listen to nuances in our voices, and detect information from our scent.
“When we compare humans with primates, we are looking at abilities that may have come from a common ancestor,” says senior author Laura Cuaya of the University of Vienna. “With dogs, the story is totally different. They followed a very different evolutionary path, yet through domestication, they developed the social abilities needed to understand and cooperate with us.”
[...] Next, the researchers plan to adopt a more dog-centric perspective to understand how dogs integrate these brain signals to make sense of the humans around them. Their future work will also compare how human and dog brains process the same emotional signals... (MORE - missing details, no ads)
EXCERPTS: Scientists—and dog lovers—have long known that dogs are remarkably good at interpreting our laughs, frowns, and tears. But the biology behind this ability has remained largely unexplored until now.
In a study published in the Cell Press journal iScience on August 7, researchers peered inside the brains of dogs as they viewed images of various human expressions. The brain scans revealed that dogs process smiles in a unique brain region and, for the first time, provided evidence that dogs can distinguish between negative facial expressions, including anger, sadness, and fear.
“Humans are really good at picking up small details on the face, and so are dogs,” says first author Raúl Hernández-Pérez from the University of Vienna. “This makes dogs very interesting. By studying their brains, we can understand what adaptations have developed to support their remarkable social and emotional understanding of humans.”
[...] the canine brain was not merely sorting the world into good and bad, the team found. A whole-brain analysis revealed distinct patterns of activity that separated fear from anger and sadness, providing the first evidence that dogs can distinguish between specific negative facial expressions.
The researchers say that this ability does not mean that dogs experience emotions exactly as humans do. Also, a still photo of a human face doesn’t tell the whole story; in real life, dogs watch human body language, listen to nuances in our voices, and detect information from our scent.
“When we compare humans with primates, we are looking at abilities that may have come from a common ancestor,” says senior author Laura Cuaya of the University of Vienna. “With dogs, the story is totally different. They followed a very different evolutionary path, yet through domestication, they developed the social abilities needed to understand and cooperate with us.”
[...] Next, the researchers plan to adopt a more dog-centric perspective to understand how dogs integrate these brain signals to make sense of the humans around them. Their future work will also compare how human and dog brains process the same emotional signals... (MORE - missing details, no ads)