Dogs’ brains are sensitive to the familiar high-pitched “cute” voice tone that adult humans, especially women, use to talk to babies, according to a new study.
The research, published recently in the journal Communications Biology, found “exciting similarities” between infant and dog brains during the processing of speech with such a high-pitched tone feature.
Humans tend to speak with a specific speech style characterised by exaggerated prosody, or patterns of stress and intonation in a language, when communicating with individuals having limited language competence.
Such speech has previously been found to be very important for the healthy cognitive, social and language development of children, who are also tuned to such a high-pitched voice.
But researchers, including those from the Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, hoped to assess whether dog brains are also sensitive to this way of communication.
In the study, conscious family dogs were made to listen to dog, infant and adult-directed speech recorded from 12 women and men in real-life interactions.
As the dogs listened, their brain activities were measured using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan.
The study found the sound-processing regions of the dogs’ brains responded more to dog- and infant-directed than adult-directed speech.
This marked the first neurological evidence that dog brains are tuned to speech directed specifically at them.
“Studying how dog brains process dog-directed speech is exciting, because it can help us understand how exaggerated prosody contributes to efficient speech processing in a nonhuman species skilled at relying on different speech cues,” explained Anna Gergely, co-first author of the study.
Scientists also found dog- and infant-directed speech sensitivity of dog brains was more pronounced when the speakers were women, and was affected by voice pitch and its variation.
These findings suggest the way we speak to dogs matters, and that their brain is specifically sensitive to the higher-pitched voice tone typical to the female voice.
“Remarkably, the voice tone patterns characterizing women’s dog-directed speech are not typically used in dog-dog communication – our results may thus serve evidence for a neural preference that dogs developed during their domestication,” said Anna Gábor, co-first author of the study.
“Dog brains’ increased sensitivity to dog-directed speech spoken by women specifically may be due to the fact that women more often speak to dogs with exaggerated prosody than men,” Dr Gabor said.
The abandoned and scared puppy lets forth tears at every figure that comes near.
People claim the dog cries “human-like.”
Rain, a German Shepherd noted for sobbing because he cries every time someone approaches him for aid, has touched many people. A story that also demonstrates how memories of abuse may mentally scar an animal and entirely affect its perspective on the world.
Traumatized dogs no longer perceive the world as a place where they may be joyful and loved; instead, everything has darkened for them, scaring and terrifying them. Furthermore, they no longer trust males and see little hope for a better life.
Rain, the German Shepherd dog who cries as you approach him.
The dog had been hiding beneath a van for several days, clinging to the wall behind the automobile for fear of being seen by someone. He couldn’t stop himself from shivering violently. So the locals decided to take action.
The animal rights charity “Hope For Paws” was notified by the neighbors. Volunteers then arrived to assist the dog. They attempted to approach him by showing him a burger, believing that the meal would pique his interest. Rain, on the other hand, was frozen in fear.
The German Shepherd then began to scream heartbreakingly loudly. The dog was attempting to persuade the rescuers to go since he does not trust them. They realized it would be difficult to help this sick dog. Loreta, one of the rescuers, recognized the dog’s difficult background.
It’s difficult to picture the type of abuse this dog must have received. Rescuers have never previously heard an animal wail like this. They were in terrible need. Rain crept out from beneath the car to hide in an even tighter location, making things much worse. He desired to establish separation.
On the bright side, the rescue crew placed a net on one side, while Loreta stood on the other, attempting to attract Rain’s attention. And it finally worked! The dog was apprehended, but he began wailing again and couldn’t stop since he was terrified of the scenario. He was expecting the worst.
Rain stopped crying and eventually calmed down after being taken to a veterinarian clinic for a health check, and seeing that no one wanted to hurt him, the dog was swiftly transported to a veterinary clinic for a health check. He eventually learnt to cope with his trauma. In addition, the dog was improving with each passing day.
Rain grew friendly and was able to find a temporary foster family until he could find a permanent home. He is now known as “Sassy Pants Dunbar,” which suits his wonderful attitude.
This German Shepherd had a joyful ending, which we hope will continue in perpetuity.
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