Callie wears ear protection as she prepares to enter the scanner. The research team includes, from left, Andrew Brooks, Gregory Berns and Mark Spivak.
Image: Bryan Meltz, Emory University
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Fido's expressive face, including those longing puppy-dog eyes, may lead owners to wonder what exactly is going on in that doggy's head. Scientists decided to find out, using brain scans to explore the minds of our canine friends.
The researchers, who detailed their findings May 2 in the open-access journal PLoS ONE, were interested in understanding the human-dog relationship from the four-legged perspective.
"When we saw those first [brain] images, it was unlike anything else," said lead researcher Gregory Berns in a video interview posted online. "Nobody, as far as I know, had ever captured images of a dog's brain that wasn't sedated. This was [a] fully awake, unrestrained dog, here we have a picture for the first time ever of her brain," added Berns, who is director of the Emory University Center for Neuropolicy.
He added, "Now we can really begin to understand what dogs are thinking. We hope this opens a whole new door into canine cognition, social cognition of other species." [10 Barking Doggy Facts]
Sit … stay … still
Berns realized dogs could be trained to sit still in a brain-scanning machine after hearing that a U.S. Navy dog had been a member of the SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden. "I realized that if dogs can be trained to jump out of helicopters and airplanes, we could certainly train them to go into an fMRI to see what they're thinking," Berns said.
So he and his colleagues trained two dogs to walk into and stay completely still inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner that looks like a tube: Callie, a 2-year-old feist, or southern squirrel-hunting dog; and McKenzie, a 3-year-old border collie.
In the experiment, the dogs were trained to respond to hand signals, with the left hand pointing down signaling the dog would receive a hot-dog treat and the other gesture (both hands pointing toward each other horizontally) meaning "no treat." When the dogs saw the treat signal, the caudate region of the brain showed activity, a region associated with rewards in humans. That same area didn't rev up when dogs saw the no-treat signal. [Video of dog experiment]
"These results indicate that dogs pay very close attention to human signals," Berns said. "And these signals may have a direct line to the dog’s reward system."
Mirror into human mind
The researchers think the findings open the door for further studies of canine cognition that could answer questions about humans' deep connection with dogs, including how dogs represent human facial expressions in their minds and how they process human language.
With such an evolutionary history between man and man's best friend, the studies, the researchers point out, "may provide a unique mirror into the human mind," they write.
"The dog's brain represents something special about how humans and animals came together. It’s possible that dogs have even affected human evolution," Berns said.
In fact, research published in the August 2010 issue of the journal Current Anthropology suggests our love of these furry four-legged creatures may have deep roots in human evolution, even shaping how our ancestors developed language and other tools of civilization.
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17 Comments
Add CommentI know my sweet and adorable boxer, Herkules, God loves him and so do I, certainly increased my evolution; I now think of him as my one and only child still living at home, and I have no intentions of booting him out to college like I did the other kid. It is too difficult for humans to get along with humans, so I am glad my dog came into my life. When you develop a device that will allow us to talk to them in their own language and understand them; I want to be the first to buy it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThree reasons why dogs are better than people:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1. They don't talk but you can still communicate with them.
2. It's easier to tell when they're crazy.
3. Dogs don't crap in the same place where they eat.
Perhaps in the foreseeable future your dog would tell you something marvelous.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat's still mysterious.
Wait and see it.
Reminds me of the Far Side cartoon where a scientist invented a machine to translate dogs' barking to speech. All they said was "Hey! Hey! Hey!"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt will be interesting to see what comes of this research.
The amazing personalities and humanesque qualities exhibited by well cared for dogs clearly shows humans and dogs have exchanged more than "pats and wags" over our long history together. I saw a film recently about a border collie in Austria that knows 400+ words! Nursing homes bring dogs in all the time to cheer up the elderly. If you spend a little time working with your dog you'll be amazed at how intelligent and willing to learn they are.Five years ago I rescued a shepherd/malmute mix and I wouldn't sell her for $10k- my family would never forgive me and besides she's the best dog ever!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDogs come in all shapes and sizes to fit in any type of home and their temperament is really up to the owners.
Go rescue one and find out. and "WAG MORE-BARK LESS" people!!
"Dogs don't crap in the same place where they eat."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI've got a 10-year-old pug who'll eat his own crap if given half a chance & seems to think cat turds are some sort of delicacy. I love him to death, but he's as dumb as a brick!
Ten most common dog thoughts:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this1. My, your anus smells interesting.
2. Wow, that looks like something cool to pee on.
3. I'm hungry.
4. I'm sleepy.
5. Throw the stick! Throw the stick!
6. I need to take a dump.
7. I need to procreate.
8. What's that smell?
9. I hate postmen.
10. Barking is fun.
All dogs will eat their own poo. They apparently get some nutritional value from it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPostmen, like police or firefighters, wear a uniform so they will stand out from the crowd. Dogs pick up on someone looking different and warn them to stay away. And it works! The postman/postwoman goes away and the dogs' behavior is reinforced.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPugs like all flat faced dogs have dislocated brains. Perhaps that would explain it's odd preference.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPugs like all flat faced dogs have dislocated brains. Perhaps that would explain it's odd preference.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDanm1701 - Why would you let someone get away with crapping in your kitchen? You would have to be one seriously sick-minded individual to let that happen and not kick the person out of your home - never to return! If it is a child, then I question why you have not taught the child to use a bathroom. ...Unless again, you are sick enough to have install a toilet in your kitchen!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNot true! My dogs never did. The second they tried as a puppy to eat their own poo, during the potty training stage, I would slightly push them away and tell them "Eww!" or "Yuck" followed by "No!" over and over again..pushing them away each time they tried to defy my words and pushing signals. By the time they were fully potty trained, they learned to leave it alone.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf your dog eats it's poo, then that is a sign of poor training abilities in the owner - not the dog! It is not a dog's fault an owner is too lazy to train the dog properly. Just like it is not a dog's fault an owner can not train without hitting the dog or any other type of abusing behavior. A good trainer never hits or humiliates an animal such as rubbing the dog's face in the dog's pee or poo!
You really talk garbage! Again, a dog trained properly would not make the link that a postman or policeman is automatically an intruder. A properly trained dog would only react to what would be deemed suspicious behavior by evaluating the social behavior of it's owner. If you act happy and kind to the postman or police officer and train your dog to let the postman or police officer pet it, then the dog will learn that the postman or policeman is not necessarily a harmful entity to itself or the owner. All animals can sense good or bad body language - that's how they survive. If someone comes up to the owner or to the dog and the person exhibits harmful or suspicious behavior, then the dog will interpret that bad behavior and react in a survivor-mode.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlso, the defensive behavior of a dog is like that of a human. If someone you are not familiar with is wearing a hat and you can not see the person's face, then do you not tend to be a little weary or totally frightened/defensive depending on what else the person is wearing?
There is also the fact that just like some humans do not like certain fashion-statements, so do dogs, cats, and many other animals. So do dogs react negatively if their owner, other family member(s), or friend wheres a hat, shoes, or socks. One of my dog's did not like my brother to wear a hat, so the dog would give a low growl if my brother worn a hat. I had another dog that did not like when I worn socks. The dog would try to pull my socks off if I was relaxing watching t.v. (I admit the socks pulling was a little bit funny to me; so once I trained him to not chew the socks, it turned into the dog's way of asking for play-time.)
Gargreguan, did you comment about a "peek" (not "peak") into a dog's brain? I saw no reference to "peak" in the article. This has "piqued" my interest.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat are you talking about? Who talked about going to the bathroom in the kitchen? What do children have to do with this article/discussion? Are you incapable of comprehending a simple English sentence?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEver wonder if you dog wanted you to be a better human?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLike learning more tricks.