A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Vienna has found that dogs and humans share a similar ability to understand information conveyed through body postures.
It means that we and our pets actually think pretty similarly in some aspects.
Let's find out more!
The findings provide new understanding of how dogs and humans perceive each other and their surroundings, highlighting the significance of the temporal lobe in social communication and perception.
The new research published in Communications Biology, reveals that dogs possess a special temporal lobe that appeared independently from primates.
The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the brain activity of both humans and pet dogs.
They found that dogs, like their owners, have a specific brain region in the temporal lobe dedicated to understanding body postures.
The study claims that while faces are important to pet dogs, body postures and overall perception tend to play a bigger role.
The researchers also claimed that the special brain regions were active in tested dogs when they saw pictures of other dogs or people, underscoring the strong bond between dogs and their owners.
These findings shed light on the convergent evolution of social perception and communication between us.