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Dog brain scans show if they are looking at a happy or sad face

By Chris Baraniuk

29 March 2018

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

What’s going on in that little head?

Westend61 / Getty

It’s not exactly reading a dog’s mind, but it’s at least having a sneak peek. Researchers can now work out what a dog is looking at, just by examining a scan of its brain.

Over the last few years researchers have shown what dog owners long suspected: our furry friends can recognise human facial expressions. For instance, a 2015 study showed that dogs know the difference between a happy face and an angry face (Current Biology, doi.org/f64zrj).

Now Laura Verónica Cuaya and her colleagues at the…

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