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.
Frightened Puppies Seek Refuge Under a Rock to Escape Human Presence
Once in a serene rural enclave, a small community of puppies came into the world, born to a mother dog who had sought refuge in a hidden grove. The tranquility of this environment should have been an ideal setting for a family of dogs, yet their lives were far from picturesque. Their mother, a determined leader among humans, had instilled in her offspring an intense fear of the outside world, a realm teeming with peril.
Their existence was a testament to the primal forces of fear and survival in the animal kingdom. To find solace and security, they had learned to depend on one another. Occasionally, these puppies, bearing echoes of their mother’s tenacity, would venture beyond the boundaries she had set, spurred by their innate curiosity.
It was under the shelter of a massive stone that these puppies would huddle together, away from the perceived threats of the outside world. Protected from harsh elements and potential predators, they would cautiously peek out from their secure den to observe the world beyond. Safely ensconced, they would watch the world go by, their tiny hearts racing at the sight of a distant human figure.
Their presence illustrated the potent influence of fear and survival instincts in the animal kingdom. They knew that to thrive, they had to remain concealed from the outside world, their small hearts quivering with trepidation. The stone, perhaps a relic from a bygone era, became their sanctuary, shielding them from the unseen dangers lurking beyond.
Over time, the transformation of these puppies was nothing short of extraordinary. Their initial dread of humans, born of past experiences and deeply rooted fears, gradually began to dissolve. Their encounters, filled with love and kindness, altered their perspective, and happiness began to supplant their previous apprehension.
The tale of these puppies served as a potent testament to the resilience of fear and survival instincts in animals. Their initial fear of humans was a defense mechanism, forged through past experiences and a deeply ingrained instinct to shield themselves from danger.
However, the unwavering patience and compassionate efforts of individuals determined to alter the course of these puppies’ lives began to yield fruit. Slowly but surely, the puppies began to conquer their fear and apprehension, forging trust and companionship between humans and their animal counterparts.
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