In humans, this feeling is described as “euphoria.”
Any dog enthusiast will attest that their canine companion can sense human moods and emotions, according to the BBC.
Scientists have now pinpointed what occurs in a dog’s brain when it perceives a person—whether familiar or a stranger—expressing a smile or a frown.
Fourteen dogs participated in a study where they remained motionless in a brain scanner while viewing images of human faces.
Images of happy, smiling faces activated a specific brain region associated with feelings of reward.
This reward system is the portion of the brain engaged when we experience pleasure and recall enjoyable experiences—like savoring delicious food or receiving accolades.
In humans, this is often described as “euphoria,” akin to winning a game or receiving positive comments on social media.
Prior research on dogs showed that this same brain area is stimulated when they anticipate treats or recognize a familiar person.
“It governs our motivation to act,” explains Laura Quaya, a lead researcher from the University of Vienna. “This indicates that happy faces, even those of strangers, hold positive significance for dogs.”
Quaya and colleague Raul Hernandez-Perez expanded their research to examine how dogs react to various human emotions. The dogs were exposed to images of people displaying happiness, anger, fear, and sadness. However, only happy faces triggered the brain’s reward system.
“Dogs can differentiate positive emotions from others, but they seem unable to distinguish between different negative emotions,” Hernandez-Perez, also from the University of Vienna, told the BBC.
Leave a Reply