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.
Heartrending Farewell: A Dog’s Emotional Goodbye at Its Owner’s Funeral Touches the Souls of Many
This Dog Cried Like A Human At the Funeral Of Its Owner, Making Many People Cry
For the last four years, this sweet pup named Belinha had been inseparable from her best friend and owner, Telma Maria. Unfortunately, their time together was cut short lately — but Belinha’s love for her owner continues on.
Maria, who resided in Brazil, died earlier this month after a lengthy cancer struggle. Throughout her difficult battle and worsening health, Belinha never left her side — and the dog’s consoling presence lifted Maria’s spirits.
Maria’s son, Dionsio Neto, stated online, “My mother said she was her nurse.” “Belinha was the most devoted friend.”
Given how important Belinha was in Maria’s life, it was only natural that she would be there at her funeral. Belinha sat somberly alongside other family members, as though realizing the gravity of the mournful meeting.
What occurred next, however, had the greatest impact on Maria’s son.
Belinha astonished everyone by remaining at Maria’s side throughout the rest of the service, exactly as she’d always done when Maria was alive. Neto wanted to photograph those sensitive moments, writing:
“Animals are unconditional love.”
Belinha continued to weep after the wedding, wailing frequently for Maria’s absence. So, in the hopes of offering the dog some comfort, Neto and a few family members agreed to show Belinha where her closest buddy now lives – a visit that seemed to relax her.
Belinha broke free from her leash at the cemetery and raced straight to Maria’s grave, despite the fact that she had not been there when she was laid to rest. Neto was once again moved to see that the bond between his mom and her dog remained unbroken, telling the newspaper Estadão:
“Even in death, my mother teaches me that love is not limited to people. My mother and Belinha show that animal love is more powerful than many people believe.”
In time, Belinha’s heart will begin to heal, knowing that Maria is never far away. Belinha now has a lifelong home with Neto, so she won’t have to go through the grief process alone.
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