Hungarian scientists have shown that humans and dogs in a similar way handle it. Hierarchical method the perception persists in both species, writes Nature.
Dogs have a high sensitivity to the speech. Researchers from Hungary decided to measure the brain activity of animals in the period of wakefulness with the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The dogs were allowed to listen to known for their praise – “well done”, “good boy”, etc. in addition, they spoke unknown words with neutral or laudatory tone.
It turned out that the dog’s brain, as human perception of speech in a hierarchical manner. Primarily animals recognize intonation at lower levels in the subcortical areas. Thus for the perception of known words in dogs are activated a higher levels of the brain, in cortical regions. Young individuals to recognize the words much easier than adults, the researchers note.
“the study of the peculiarities in the processing of speech between the dog and human brain will help to understand what led to the emergence of speech in the course of evolution. Speech processing in humans is unique in many aspects, however, this work has revealed striking similarities between us and that silent form,” write the authors.
