Tilt their heads when we cry, pace back and forth when we’re stressed, and are always by our side during the toughest moments of our lives. Coincidence? Not at all.
Over thousands of years of evolution alongside humans, have developed unique skills. They perceive our voices, facial expressions, and even the biochemistry of our brains. According to researchers, dogs are hardwired to pick up on human emotions.
Evidence of this remarkable can be found in the brains of dogs, claims Laura Ellen Pigott, a senior lecturer in neuroscience and neurorehabilitation at London South Bank University.
She explains that in the temporal cortex of a dog’s brain, there are areas responsible for processing sound. These areas activate in response to sounds, particularly emotional tones. Brain scans of dogs have shown that emotionally charged sounds—like laughter, whining, or angry shouting—activate the auditory cortex and the amygdala (the part of the brain responsible for processing emotions).
Emotional Contagion – A Fundamental Form of Empathy
Dogs are surprisingly adept at reading human body language and . When shown images of human faces, dogs exhibit increased brain activity. Experiments have proven that domestic dogs can distinguish a smiling face from an angry one, even in photographs.
Moreover, scientists have discovered that looking at a familiar human face activates the reward and emotion centers in a dog’s brain. Dogs process human expressions not as words, but as feelings.
Dogs don’t just observe our emotions—they “catch” them. Researchers refer to this phenomenon as emotional contagion. It’s a basic form of empathy where one living being mirrors the emotional state of another. A 2019 study showed that in some “dog-human” pairs, heart rates even synchronized during stressful situations.
Emotional contagion doesn’t require complex reasoning. It’s likely an automatic form of empathy that arises from a close bond. Your dog’s sympathetic yawns or whines are primarily driven by learned associations and emotional attunement.
The Oxytocin Loop Effect
One of the most astonishing discoveries in the interactions between dogs and humans is the chemical bond that forms between them. When dogs and humans gaze tenderly at each other, there’s a release of oxytocin, often referred to as the “love hormone.”
In one study, dog owners who gazed into their dogs’ eyes for extended periods showed significantly higher levels of oxytocin afterward. The same was true for their dogs. However, this oxytocin feedback loop is characteristic only of domesticated dogs.
As progressed, dogs developed an interspecies oxytocin loop that helped them maintain an emotional connection with their owners. Those penetrating gazes from your four-legged friend chemically bond you to them.
When processing emotional signals, dogs, like humans, show a slight preference for the right hemisphere of the brain. When evaluating a facial expression, dogs primarily focus on the left side of a person’s face, as reported by Science Alert.
Dogs rely on a multitude of senses to determine our emotions. A cheerful, enthusiastic “Good boy!” and a relaxed posture convey a completely different message than a stern shout and a tense body.
A Language of Friendship That Needs No Words
So why do dogs have such a remarkable ability to sense human emotions? The answer lies in our shared evolutionary journey. Dogs’ brains are smaller than those of their wild ancestors—the wolves. However, through the process of domestication, their brains have restructured, and their social and emotional intelligence has developed.
In dogs that have lived alongside us for thousands of years, finely tuned neural pathways have formed for reading social signals. And while a dog’s brain may be smaller than a wolf’s, it is uniquely optimized for understanding and loving humans.
By scanning our behavior and feelings, dogs respond in ways that few other animals can. In today’s hectic world, this interspecies empathy is not just touching; it reminds us that the language of friendship needs no extra words.