WEBVTT - FunStuff Playlist 03: Do Dogs Use Facial Expressions to 'Talk' to Us?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. If you're like me, you

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<v Speaker 1>love dogs, possibly more than people. Some days, their warm

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<v Speaker 1>eyes and doggie grins have me wrapped around their fluffy

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<v Speaker 1>pupper tails, and according to new research from the University

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<v Speaker 1>of Portsmouth's Dog Cognition Center, dogs deliberately make more facial

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<v Speaker 1>expressions when we're watching them, and it could be their

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<v Speaker 1>way to communicate with us. The study was led by

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<v Speaker 1>Dr Julienne Kaminsky and published in a seventeen issue of

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<v Speaker 1>Scientific Reports. Kaminski and her research team came to their

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<v Speaker 1>conclusion after watching twenty four different dogs, all family pets

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<v Speaker 1>of varying breeds and ages. Each dog was filmed individually

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<v Speaker 1>in a room with a person who went through various

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<v Speaker 1>scenarios including looking at the dog, looking away from the dog,

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<v Speaker 1>and giving the dog food. The scientists then studied the

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<v Speaker 1>dog's facial expressions using the Dog Facial Action Coding System

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<v Speaker 1>or Dog FACTS, which is a scientific tool for coding

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<v Speaker 1>canines facial movements. It was adapted from the FACTS system

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<v Speaker 1>created for humans back in night. Kaminsky and her team

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<v Speaker 1>discovered that each dog made animated faces when the person

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<v Speaker 1>in the room was looking at it, including raising its

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<v Speaker 1>eyebrows and sticking out its tongue a much more than

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<v Speaker 1>when the person's back was turned. In a press statement,

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<v Speaker 1>Dr Kaminsky said the findings appear to support evidence that

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<v Speaker 1>dogs are sensitive to humans attention and that expressions are

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<v Speaker 1>potentially active attempts to communicate, not simple emotional displays. Most

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<v Speaker 1>surprisingly is that even the presence of food didn't influence

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<v Speaker 1>the dogs as much as human affection. Kaminski said, we

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<v Speaker 1>knew domestic dogs paid attention to how attentive a human is.

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<v Speaker 1>In a previous study, we found, for example, the dogs

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<v Speaker 1>stole food more often when the human's eyes were closed

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<v Speaker 1>or when they had their back turned. In another study,

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<v Speaker 1>we found dogs follow the gaze of a human if

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<v Speaker 1>the human first establishes eye contact with the dog, so

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<v Speaker 1>the dog knows that the gaze shift is erected at them.

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<v Speaker 1>Kabinski says it's possible that the expressions of dogs have

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<v Speaker 1>changed as they've become more domesticated, but the study does

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<v Speaker 1>have its limits. Twenty four canines makes for a small

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<v Speaker 1>study sample, so it's likely that more dogs should be

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<v Speaker 1>studied to confirm these findings, which sounds like an excellent

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<v Speaker 1>research session to me. Today's episode was written by Sarah

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<v Speaker 1>Glime and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this

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<v Speaker 1>and lots of other tail wagging topics, visit our home planet,

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of

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