WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Do Dogs Use Facial Expressions to Communicate with Us?

0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:06.360
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hi

0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:09.479
<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Fogelbaum. In today's episode is another

0:00:09.480 --> 0:00:13.000
<v Speaker 1>classic from our archives. In this one, we talk about

0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:15.200
<v Speaker 1>what I have to Imagine was one of the most

0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:18.520
<v Speaker 1>fun research studies to participate in in recent history, at

0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:22.200
<v Speaker 1>the very least, which delved into how dogs use facial

0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:28.120
<v Speaker 1>expressions to communicate with us humans. Hey, brain Stuff, Lauren

0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:32.080
<v Speaker 1>Vogelbam here. If you're like me, you love dogs, possibly

0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:35.479
<v Speaker 1>more than people. Some days, their warm eyes and doggie

0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:38.959
<v Speaker 1>grins have me wrapped around their fluffy pupper tails, and

0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:42.160
<v Speaker 1>according to new research from the University of Portsmouth's Dog

0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:46.519
<v Speaker 1>Cognition Center, dogs deliberately make more facial expressions when we're

0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:49.480
<v Speaker 1>watching them, and it could be their way to communicate

0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:52.599
<v Speaker 1>with us. The study was led by Dr Julienne Kaminski

0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:57.000
<v Speaker 1>and published in a sen issue of Scientific Reports. Kaminski

0:00:57.120 --> 0:00:59.840
<v Speaker 1>and her research team came to their conclusion after watching

0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:03.320
<v Speaker 1>twenty four different dogs, all family pets of varying breeds

0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:06.600
<v Speaker 1>and ages. Each dog was filmed individually in a room

0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:09.800
<v Speaker 1>with a person who went through various scenarios including looking

0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:12.479
<v Speaker 1>at the dog, looking away from the dog, and giving

0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:16.200
<v Speaker 1>the dog food. The scientists then studied the dog's facial

0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:20.440
<v Speaker 1>expressions using the Dog Facial Action Coding System or Dog FACTS,

0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:24.240
<v Speaker 1>which is a scientific tool for coding canines facial movements.

0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:27.520
<v Speaker 1>It was adapted from the FACTS system created for humans

0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:31.920
<v Speaker 1>back in Kaminsky and her team discovered that each dog

0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:34.480
<v Speaker 1>made animated faces when the person in the room was

0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:37.560
<v Speaker 1>looking at it, including raising its eyebrows and sticking out

0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:40.120
<v Speaker 1>its tongue, a much more than when the person's back

0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:43.600
<v Speaker 1>was turned. In a press statement, Dr Kaminsky said the

0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:46.920
<v Speaker 1>findings appear to support evidence that dogs are sensitive to

0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:51.200
<v Speaker 1>humans attention and that expressions are potentially active attempts to communicate,

0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:56.240
<v Speaker 1>not simple emotional displays. Most surprisingly is that even the

0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:59.200
<v Speaker 1>presence of food didn't influence the dogs as much as

0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:03.480
<v Speaker 1>human affection. Kaminski said, we knew domestic dogs paid attention

0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:06.160
<v Speaker 1>to how attentive a human is. In a previous study,

0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:09.040
<v Speaker 1>we found, for example, the dogs stole food more often

0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:11.200
<v Speaker 1>when the human's eyes were closed or when they had

0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:14.640
<v Speaker 1>their back turned. In another study, we found dogs follow

0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:17.200
<v Speaker 1>the gaze of a human if the human first establishes

0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:19.760
<v Speaker 1>eye contact with the dog, so the dog knows that

0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:23.799
<v Speaker 1>the gaze shift is directed at them. Kavinski says it's

0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:26.760
<v Speaker 1>possible that the expressions of dogs have changed as they've

0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:30.400
<v Speaker 1>become more domesticated, but the study does have its limits.

0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:33.600
<v Speaker 1>Twenty four canines makes for a small study sample, so

0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:36.520
<v Speaker 1>it's likely that more dogs should be studied to confirm

0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:40.000
<v Speaker 1>these findings, which sounds like an excellent research session to me.

0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:49.200
<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article dogs make more

0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:51.959
<v Speaker 1>expressive faces when humans are watching on how stuff works

0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:54.880
<v Speaker 1>dot com, written by Elea Hoyt. Brain Stuff is production

0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:56.839
<v Speaker 1>of by Heart Radio and partnership with how staff works

0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:59.560
<v Speaker 1>dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler clang Or more

0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.280
<v Speaker 1>podcast It's my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,

0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:05.079
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:16.239
<v Speaker 1>H