Dogs Process Words Like Humans

                Scientists have found evidence to support what many dog owners have long believed: man’s best friend really does understand some of what we’re saying. Researchers scanned the brains of dogs as they were listening to their trainer speak to determine which parts of the brain they use. They found that dogs processed words with the left hemisphere, while intonation was processed with the right hemisphere – just like humans. What’s more the dogs only registered that they were being praised if the words and intonation were positive; meaningless words spoken in an encouraging voice, or meaningful words in a neutral tone, didn’t have the same effect. Gog brains care about both what we say and how we say it. Praise can work as a reward only if both word meaning and intonation match. The findings suggest that the mental ability to process language evolved earlier than previously believed and that what sets humans apart from other species is the invention of words. The neural capacities to process words that were thought by many to be uniquely human are actually shared with other species. While other species probably are also capable of understand language like dogs do, their lack of interest in human speech makes it difficult to test. Dogs have socialized with humans for thousands of years, meaning they are more attentive to what people say to them and how.