AI Summary

Researchers used MRI scans to examine how dogs’ brains respond to human facial expressions, revealing distinct neural activity when dogs viewed smiles compared with negative emotions. The scans showed that a specific brain region processes smiles, while separate patterns indicate dogs can differentiate among anger, sadness and fear. The findings, published in iScience, provide the first neural evidence that dogs distinguish between different negative human expressions. Lead author Raúl Hernández‑Pérez noted that this ability underscores dogs’ advanced social and emotional perception of humans. The study suggests a neural basis for dogs’ well‑documented skill at reading human emotions.

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