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Scientists reveal how dogs decode what humans are saying
independent.co.uk • • science
Key Points:
- Researchers in Hungary discovered that dogs process speech similarly to humans, showing a unique ability among animals to focus on consonant sounds when deciphering language.
- The study found that both dogs and humans exhibit a "consonant bias," where their brains synchronize more strongly with speech streams structured around consonants rather than vowels or random syllables.
- Using EEG, scientists observed that around 400 ms after hearing consonant-structured words, both species showed brain activity changes linked to segmenting continuous speech into individual words.
- The findings suggest that speech processing abilities may develop through regular exposure to language rather than requiring innate, human-specific brain wiring or language skills.
- This research provides the first evidence of consonant bias in a non-human species, highlighting a deeper cognitive connection between dogs and humans in processing spoken language.
