Brain scans provide world-first evidence dogs can distinguish between human fear and sadness

Dogs react to human emotions—we've all noticed them slinking away from an angry person or leaning against someone who's upset. But do they actually distinguish between different negative emotions? A new study published in iScience sheds new light on the question, The Conversation reports. Researchers at the University of Vienna scanned dogs' brains while they viewed photos of human faces and found that fear and sadness activate different brain regions than fear and anger do—specifically, fear stands out as neurologically distinct from other negative emotions. Scientists suspect this is because fear and anger demand quicker, more urgent responses to keep dogs safe, while sadness poses less immediate threat. The study was small—just eight to twelve dogs—and used still images, missing out on the scent and sound cues that dogs actually rely on in real life to read human emotions.

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