2023-08-24 08:24:49
Here it’s not just about interpreting or having associated a sound with an object or an action. Have you ever wondered that dogs actually understand human speech? Some of you will answer absolutely yes, others will say no, come on: however intelligent my dog may be, it’s not that he understands human language. But whatever answer you give, science’s opinion on the subject will amaze you.
Like a child
We already know that dogs can recognize some words and distinguish them, responding to commands. We also know that they learn their name, react when they hear our voice, and understand when we’re talking to them or someone else. Not only that: dogs also know how to understand if we are telling them a lie or giving them a sincere compliment, and they judge us, thinking about the times we are stupid and do things that are meaningless to them. Now a new study, recently published in Communications Biology, reveals that our best friends show greater brain sensitivity to speech addressed to both them and children, especially if women are speaking.
Pre-language
As technical as it may seem, this study demonstrates for the first time that the canine speech center develops exactly like that of infants. Hungarian researchers from the Department of Ethology of the University of Eötvös Loránd have demonstrated with a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging that the brain of dogs is able to perfectly process language with exaggerated prosody, i.e. how we talk to newborns to stimulate babbling of infants.
Capturing attention
When communicating with individuals with limited language skills, such as infants or even our pets, we tend to use a specific vocal style characterized by exaggerated prosody to capture and hold their attention. And this not only works, but is very important as it helps healthy cognitive, social and linguistic development. “Studying how the dog brain processes direct speech is exciting because it may help us understand how prosody contributes to efficient language processing in a non-human species that is adept at relying on different speech cues,” explains researcher Anna Gergely.
Sweet and gentle tones
The fact that it is the female voice that attracts their attention the most, and activates more areas of the brain, is still not clear. Researchers have identified anatomy-based pitch and frequency differences in female speech, and there is also evidence that genders tend to use a specific voice towards a recipient differently. Women also tend to hyperarticulate vowels and use a wider range of pitch than men. All characteristics that the dog’s brain likes and help it to better interpret the various meanings, revealing that it is absolutely not true that dogs obey commands more if our tone of voice is assertive and authoritative.
Subjects
#dogs #understand #human #speech