Using a Magnetic Resonance Scanner, or MRI, scientists found that when it comes to emotions, dogs’ brains are similar to those of humans. Dogs are usually not relaxed in a lab environment, but with a little petting and lots of treats they can be trained to sit still even in an MRI scanner. That’s how researchers in Hungary’s ELTE University were able to get images of their brains at work.

　　Research fellow Attila Andics says it helped them better understand the dogs’ relationship with humans. “We have known for a long time that dogs and humans share similar social environment, but now our results show that dogs and humans also have similar brain mechanisms（大脑机制）to process social information,”said Andics.

　　After training 11 dogs to stay motionless while their brains were scanned, the researchers checked their neurological（神经系统的）responses to about 200 emotionally significant sounds, from whining and crying to playful barking and laughing. They then compared the responses from human subjects. They found striking similarities.

　　Andics says it opens new possibilities for research. “It establishes a foundation of a new branch of comparative neuroscience, because until now it was not possible to measure the brain activities of a non-primate（非人灵长类动物）and the primate brain in a single experiment,” said Andics.

　　And what that tells ordinary dog owners, the Hungarian scientists say, is to treat your canine companions as friends, not mere animals, because they evidently understand human feelings.

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