New MRI results show: Dogs are people too

It won't be news to most dog lovers, but new MRI studies show that dogs experience emotion the same way we do, with activation of the caudate nucleus. Until now, MRI scans of dog's brains could only be done on anaesthetized dogs, who turned up as inactive on the scans as an anaesthetized human would.

However, one researcher spent countless hours training a squadron of dogs to wear earmuffs (as noise protection), walk into an MRI machine, and hold perfectly still for up to 30 seconds. The dogs were then put through a series of simple tests, such as being exposed to the smells of familiar and unfamiliar humans. The results were amazing, but maybe only to people who thought that dogs are dumb, unfeeling creatures.

Image courtesy Flickr/gryhrt