A study comparing brain scans of humans and non-primates showed that dogs and humans both have dedicated brain areas to process voices and react similarly to emotional cues. The study was led by Dr. Attila Andics, of MTA-ELTE Comparative Ethology Research Group in Budapest.

The researchers note that parallel evolution is a possible reason for this similarity, but dedicated brain areas for processing voice developed much too early to support this hypothesis. The findings of this study also give new clues of the unique bond between dogs and humans that has been experienced for several thousand years.

According to Dr. Andics, the social environments for humans and dogs are similar and the study results show that they use their brain in similar ways to process information in these environments. This may explain the compatibility between the two species.

A total of 11 trained dogs underwent tests in an fMRI scanner for this test, listening to almost 200 vocal sounds, many of them with emotional cues. The researchers found that the brain areas reacting to the sounds were the same in humans as well. “Our findings also reveal that sensitivity to vocal emotional valence cues engages similarly located non-primary auditory regions in dogs and humans,” said the researchers.