Many of us have worked to expand our culture and worldview by learning a second language. While some of us achieve success in these efforts, some of us unfortunately cannot reach the goal they want due to some reasons. ‘Languages’, which are the biggest parts of culture, were assumed to be distinguishable only by ‘people’ until now. But a new study may be proving that we’re not the only creatures who can understand these differences.
Laura Cuaya, who does brain research at Eötvös Lorand University in Budapest, wondered if her pets were also experiencing the culture shock she experienced when she moved to Hungary from Mexico with her two dogs and started researching on this subject. The results show that dogs can also distinguish between different languages.
Dogs’ brain activity varies according to different languages:
Cuaya observed brain activity in the dogs of 18 volunteers for this study. In this testing phase, which included two of his own dogs, he measured how each dog responded to two different languages. While Cuaya’s dogs had been exposed to the Spanish language almost their entire lives, the other dogs in the test were also accustomed to the Hungarian language.
The brain activities of the dogs, which were listened to different languages with a large earphone, were recorded in the Emar (MRI) machine. From the results, the researchers state that different parts of the dogs’ brain are activated when they are exposed to a different language than they are used to, indicating that dogs can understand differently between the two languages. In addition, it is stated that the differences in brain activity of older dogs are more intense.
The researchers say this work is very exciting as it proves ‘language’ awareness in non-humans. What are your thoughts on this subject? Have you ever tried to command or speak bilinguals with your dog? You can also share your thoughts with us in the comments section.
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