Studying Dog Brains

Research into how dogs think is yielding some amazing results, although a lot of it just confirms what we already thought from behavior observation, but did not know for sure. What’s amazing is how its done. Imagine putting a dog in an MRI machine.

The most direct brain-based evidence that dogs are hopelessly devoted to humans comes from a recent neuroimaging study about odor processing in the dog brain. Animal cognition scientists at Emory University trained dogs to lie still in an MRI machine and used fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to measure their neural responses to the smell of people and dogs, both familiar and unknown. Because dogs navigate the world through their noses, the way they process smell offers a lot of potential insight into social behavior.

The scientists found that dog owners' aroma actually sparked activation in the "reward center" of their brains, called the caudate nucleus. Of all the wafting smells to take in, dogs actually prioritized the hint of humans over anything or anyone else.

Other studies show that dogs process information a lot like people do -and quite differently from what we know of cats and other animals. Read more about canine brain research at at Brain Mic, and do not miss the picture of the good dog waiting for his MRI. -via Metafilter

(Image credit: Borbala Ferenczy)

Love cute animals? View more at Lifestyles of the Cute and Cuddly blog

Comments (0)

Hmmm...well. I guess there's now one reason I can be thankful for some of the side-effects of working in retail for years, because it's honed my politely-ending-conversations-and-quickly-getting-away skills!

Body language helps a lot, use it!
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I just close my eyes, cover my ears and start screaming while counting up... I usually open an eye to have a peek when I'm around 15 seconds and most times the other person is gone. However, sometimes people don't know how to react and will stand there and stare at me, unable to process what is going on. If by 30 seconds (second peek) the person is still there, I'll start running away as fast as I can while still covering my ears and counting (eyes should be open at that point tho, I tried with eyes closed once and it didn't end well, I was stuck with the person for 20 minutes until ambulance arrived). If by 45 seconds the person followed me when I ran away, well by then they deserve a conversation, so I'll stop running and screaming and just invite them to my house for coffee. Not a lot of people come to my house.
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@everwhere

right, because they've got the exclusive rights to intentionally crudely drawn comics on the internet?

i've read the entirety of both the oatmeal and hyperbole and a half. they are not the same, nor is one a 'rip off' of the other. they are sovereign entities.

how's *your* awesome website that you make enough money to live off of going?

that's what i thought.
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