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Dogs Recognize Happy, Fearful Faces, Not Angry, Sad

8/11/2026

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Story summary
  • Neuroscientist Laura Cuaya and researcher Raúl Hernández-Pérez (University of Vienna) used fMRI to scan eight dogs in an initial experiment and twelve in a second as they viewed facial expressions.
  • Happy faces triggered activity in the temporal cortex and caudate nucleus, letting researchers separate happy from negative responses.
  • Whole-brain analysis showed distinct activity for fearful faces but could not differentiate angry from sad faces, indicating dogs struggle with those emotions.