The sound of food pouring into a bowl, the creak of the front door, the laughter of a boisterous group—these and other noises can significantly affect your .
A team of researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna claims that a dog’s balance can either stabilize or destabilize when it hears both joyful and aggressive human voices.
A stable posture helps dogs (just like humans) stand still, walk, and run without falling. To maintain stability, muscles rely on visual signals and the sense of one’s own body state. Scientists have long known that external sounds affect human body stability: high-frequency sounds are linked to destabilization, while silence is associated with stabilization. However, there has been little research on how sounds influence the posture and stability of animals, as reported by Popular Science.
What Did the Scientists Discover?
In their new study, the team measured balance changes in 23 domestic dogs while they listened to both joyful and angry human voices. To do this, the researchers placed the dogs on a platform equipped with pressure sensors that detected even the slightest movements of the animals.
After analyzing the individual changes in all the furry participants, the researchers found that cheerful voices were associated with stabilization in 57 percent of the dogs. Interestingly, these same joyful voices caused destabilization in the remaining 43 percent of the animals. Meanwhile, angry voices were linked to significant destabilization in 30 percent of the dogs.
According to the research team, these results suggest that both joyful and angry human voices can trigger an emotional response that affects a dog’s balance. However, the sample size in this study was small, so the scientists need further research with a larger group of participants. The team is particularly interested in finding out whether a dog’s prior experiences influence its reactions.
The study’s findings were published in the journal PLOS One.
Photo: Unsplash
