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Scientists Prove Dogs Understand Humans Better Than We Thought

Have you ever wondered if your pooch understands the words ‘I love you’ it hears from you about a thousand times a day? Well researchers at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary have some exciting news for doggie lovers!

Scientists at the Family Dog Project in Budapest used fMRI to scan 13 family dogs’ brain activity when hearing words. The interesting thing is that pups had to lie there completely motionless, sometimes for up to 8 minutes for an experiment to work. How did they get them to do it? Researchers told The Huffington Post that the most important thing was for the dogs to trust them and be praised.

Turns out that not only can pooches understand the meaning and tone of human speech – they process language the same way humans do! Doggies use right brain hemisphere to process words, and the left one to analyze intonation. Researchers came up with this finding when saying neutral phrases in a praising tone, and vice versa. The dog brain activity showed they could tell a difference between the meaning of distinct words and the sound.

We know some of you are shouting ‘I knew it!’ right now. Never again should anyone be ridiculed for talking with their dog. And if someone does laugh at you, just tell them they need to get up to date with the science.

More info: Facebook | Family Dog Project (h/t: huffingtonpost)

Scientists used fMRI to scan 13 family dogs’ brain activity when hearing words

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Image credits: Vilja and Vanda Molnár

Pups had to lie there completely motionless, sometimes for up to 8 minutes for an experiment to work

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Image credits: Borbála Ferenczy

Thanks to smart dogs like Barack (pictured) now we know more about the science of dogs

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Image credits: Eniko Kubinyi

‘Both what we say and how we say it matters to dogs’

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Image credits: Vilja and Vanda Molnár

Scans Showed Dogs Can Analyze Both Words And Intonation

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Image credits: Eniko Kubinyi

‘Using words may be a human invention but now we see that the neural connections used to process them are not uniquely human’

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As a writer and image editor for Bored Panda, Giedrė crafts posts on many different topics to push them to their potential. She's also glad that her Bachelor’s degree in English Philology didn’t go to waste (although collecting dust in the attic could also be considered an achievement of aesthetic value!) Giedrė is an avid fan of cats, photography, and mysteries, and a keen observer of the Internet culture which is what she is most excited to write about. Since she's embarked on her journalistic endeavor, Giedrė has over 600 articles under her belt and hopes for twice as much (fingers crossed - half of them are about cats).

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What do you think ?

POST

Anna Brandigi 8 years ago

To be honest, dogs are waaaaaaay better than humans...

18points

Ana Super 8 years ago

Not sure about that....

1point

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Cody Eriksen 8 years ago

Duh!!! When you ask your fur baby what did they do, They can't hide behind that guilty face. A child will have paint all over them and said they didn't do it, like all NSA style.

5points

Daria B 8 years ago

A child would say they didn't *insert explanation how it actually happened* and do it. Like... "No, I didn't hit the vase while playing football in the lovingroom".

2points

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Mário Cabral Filho 8 years ago

I have no doubt. The dogs understand us in our verbal commands, the commands using the coprpo and more, they know when we are not well. One night I came home after work, was very upset, briquei my dog hugged him and sat in the chair of my home office. He always jumped in my lap, this time lay on the floor, some little more than a meter, and looked into my eyes. so for a while I do not remember! I was improving my mood, my heart slowed and he suddenly stood up, went to my lap and hugged ready I was already quite well.

4points

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POST

Anna Brandigi 8 years ago

To be honest, dogs are waaaaaaay better than humans...

18points

Ana Super 8 years ago

Not sure about that....

1point

Load More Replies...

Cody Eriksen 8 years ago

Duh!!! When you ask your fur baby what did they do, They can't hide behind that guilty face. A child will have paint all over them and said they didn't do it, like all NSA style.

5points

Daria B 8 years ago

A child would say they didn't *insert explanation how it actually happened* and do it. Like... "No, I didn't hit the vase while playing football in the lovingroom".

2points

Load More Replies...

Mário Cabral Filho 8 years ago

4points

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Related on Bored Panda

Scientists Prove Dogs Understand Humans Better Than We Thought

Scientists used fMRI to scan 13 family dogs’ brain activity when hearing words

Pups had to lie there completely motionless, sometimes for up to 8 minutes for an experiment to work

Thanks to smart dogs like Barack (pictured) now we know more about the science of dogs

‘Both what we say and how we say it matters to dogs’

Scans Showed Dogs Can Analyze Both Words And Intonation

‘Using words may be a human invention but now we see that the neural connections used to process them are not uniquely human’

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Giedrė Vaičiulaitytė

Giedrė Vaičiulaitytė