{"id":9631,"date":"2026-08-14T05:06:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T05:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=9631"},"modified":"2026-08-14T05:06:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T05:06:26","slug":"dogs-know-if-were-happy-sad-or-scared-just-from-our-expressions-study-suggests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=9631","title":{"rendered":"Dogs know if we\u2019re happy, sad or scared just from our expressions, study suggests"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>\n            It\u2019s something every dog owner knows \u2014 but now we have the science to prove it: Dogs really can tell when we\u2019re happy or sad.\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=9625\">\u2018Cyber privateers\u2019: Trump issues order allowing US companies to hack overseas groups under certain conditions<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n            Scientists have scanned the brains of dogs to reveal how they process various human expressions, including happiness, sadness, anger and fear, according to a study published Monday in the journal iScience.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n            The scans, carried out by a team from the University of Vienna, show how the animals\u2019 brains respond differently depending on the expression that humans display.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Senior study author Laura Cuaya explained their findings in a press release published on the university\u2019s website. \u201cWhen we compare humans with primates, we are looking at abilities that may have come from a common ancestor,\u201d she said.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cWith 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.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            The researchers scanned the brains of eight dogs \u2014 six border collies, a labrador and a golden retriever \u2014 while showing them images of strangers with either a happy or a neutral expression. The pictures of happy faces increased activity in the parts of the brain associated with higher cognitive and reward processing: the temporal cortex and caudate nucleus.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cIt suggests that happy human faces may have emotional significance for dogs,\u201d said Cuaya, who began the research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and later expanded it through a collaboration at E\u00f6tv\u00f6s Lor\u00e1nd University in Hungary before moving to the Austrian capital.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Next, the researchers wanted to know if the same areas of the dogs\u2019 brains would respond to other emotions. They showed 12 dogs pictures of people feeling happy, angry, fearful or sad and used machine learning to analyse their brain activity.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            But the dogs\u2019 brains did not respond in the same way to the angry, fearful or sad expressions as they did to happiness. However, a whole-brain analysis did show distinct patterns of activity when the dogs saw faces showing the negative emotions.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<header>\n<span>\n      Related article\n    <\/span>\n<\/header>\n<section>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Bryn, an 11-year-old male Border Collie from the UK, knows the names of about 100 toys.\" class=\"wp-image-9629\" height=\"144\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9f162bc9b1095dd563e6511f88c80713.jpg\" width=\"256\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>Bryn, an 11-year-old male Border Collie from the UK, knows the names of about 100 toys.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Helen Morgan<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\n<span>Some super-smart dogs can pick up new words just by eavesdropping<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<div>5  min read<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            \u201cHumans are really good at picking up small details on the face, so are dogs,\u201d said first author Ra\u00fal Hern\u00e1ndez-P\u00e9rez, also from the University of Vienna. \u201cThis 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.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Cuaya and Hern\u00e1ndez-P\u00e9rez are partners in their private as well as professional lives and have two dogs, Odin and Kun-kun, who were part of this study.\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=9623\">Missed the eclipse? The next one in 2027 is \u2018the one to be at\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n            Hern\u00e1ndez-P\u00e9rez told CNN that \u201cfinding that the caudate nucleus was involved in processing happy faces was a nice surprise,\u201d adding: \u201cAcross species, this region has been associated with reward processing. In dogs specifically, caudate activity has been linked to food rewards, but also to social rewards, such as hearing words of praise and perceiving the odor of a familiar person.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cAlthough we cannot access dogs\u2019 subjective experience directly, our results suggest that seeing happy faces, even those of strangers, involves positive affective processing.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            The team stressed that there is more to how dogs process emotion than looking at a picture of a still facial expression, as they take other things like the human\u2019s body language, voice and scent into account. They saidit is also important to note that the dogs involved in the research were all from loving homes. Those who live on the street may have a completely different way of processing human cues.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<header>\n<span>\n      Related article\n    <\/span>\n<\/header>\n<section>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"18 dogs and their owners participated in the experiment.\" class=\"wp-image-9630\" height=\"144\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/e0bb56407f37344e56932776353e75fd.jpg\" width=\"256\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>18 dogs and their owners participated in the experiment.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Oszkar Daniel Gati<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\n<span>Dogs can match some words with objects, study suggests<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<div>4  min read<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            Hern\u00e1ndez-P\u00e9rez told CNN that the dogs had to be specially selected and trained in order to take part. \u201cThe dogs needed to be medium-sized, mainly because of the dimensions of the MRI equipment, healthy, and without behavioral problems such as a strong fear of loud sounds,\u201d he said.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cWe first teach the dogs that the task is simply to remain still, starting with only one or two seconds and slowly increasing the duration. In fact, one of the most challenging parts is communicating to the dog that \u2018doing nothing\u2019 is actually the task. We then gradually introduce the different elements of the MRI environment, including the position, equipment, and scanner sounds. The dogs always participate voluntarily and can leave at any moment.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            The research had several limitations, the authors said. The number of dogs involved in the study was small and most of the dogs were border collies, a smart breed known for its ability to follow social cues.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cIt is possible that border collies have a greater ability to interpret human facial expressions, and future studies are needed to determine whether there are behavioral and cerebral differences in the perception of human facial expressions across breeds,\u201d the study said.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            The scientists now hope to adopt a \u201cmore dogcentric approach\u201d to their research in order to understand how dogs use these signals to make sense of humans.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Hern\u00e1ndez-P\u00e9rez told CNN: \u201cBy reflecting on how remarkably attentive dogs are to our emotions, we can also try to become better at recognizing how they express their own. Emotions are a powerful form of communication that can connect us across species.\u201d\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=9617\">Who could replace Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s something every dog owner knows \u2014 but now we have the science to prove it: Dogs really can tell when we\u2019re happy or sad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","category-science"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dogs know if we\u2019re happy, sad or scared just from our expressions, study suggests - 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