Dogs can distinguish between fearful and angry or sad human faces, brain scans suggest

What it is about

Who published it, and when

How it spread - 15 original reports

1. Mon, 10 August 2026

   2 reports
   • El País (Spain)15:00first to report
     Tu perro sabe cuándo estás triste y cuándo tienes miedo: así es como su cerebro distingue nuestras emociones

     Aunque se sabía que identificaban estados completamente opuestos, como la alegría y enfado, una investigación encuentra la primera evidencia de que también son capaces de diferenciar entre dos expresiones faciales humanas negativas

   • The Guardian World15:00
     Dogs can distinguish between fearful and angry or sad human faces, brain scans suggest

     Researchers analysed activity in regions of brain when dogs were shown images of different facial expressions While dogs are known to turn the puppy eyes on their owners , it seems our pets are keeping a close eye on us too: research has revealed dog brains can distinguish different types of unhappy human faces. Dr Laura Cuaya, a co-author of the study from the University of Vienna, said previous behavioural studies had shown dogs could tell apart some human facial expressions, but such studies...

2. Tue, 11 August 2026

   4 reports
   • independent.co.uk06:07
     Your dog can spot when you are happy or scared, scientists find

     Brain scans revealed dogs can interpret different facial expressions

   • Channel News Asia11:07
     Dogs can distinguish between emotions in a human face, study shows
   • timeslive.co.za14:26
     Dogs can distinguish between emotions in a human face, study shows

     A peek inside dogs’ brains revealed man’s best friend can distinguish emotions in people’s faces, researchers at the University of Vienna have found

   • RMF24 (Poland)16:46
     Twój pies wie, kiedy jesteś smutny lub zły. Przełomowe odkrycie naukowców z Wiednia

     Twój pies wie, kiedy jesteś smutny lub zły. Przełomowe odkrycie naukowców z Wiednia

3. Wed, 12 August 2026

   2 reports
   • Times of India10:10
     Dog parents were right: Dogs can tell when you're sad, scared or angry

     New research confirms dogs can differentiate human emotions through facial expressions. Their brains process happy faces in a unique reward region, showing emotional significance. Dogs also distinguish between fear, anger, and sadness with distinct brain activity patterns. This ability developed through domestication, aiding their social understanding of humans. Understanding these emotions does not mean dogs experience them identically to people.

   • femalefirst.co.uk16:00
     Dogs can tell the difference between happy and sad human faces

     Mans best friend really may know how you feel, with scientists finding that dogs can distinguish between different emotions shown on human faces.

4. Thu, 13 August 2026

   1 report
   • Index.hr (Croatia)09:20
     Znanstvenici otkrili što se događa u mozgu psa kada vidi naše lice

     VLASNICIMA pasa vjerojatno nije nepoznat osjećaj da njihov ljubimac točno zna kada su dobro raspoloženi, tužni ili zabrinuti.

5. Fri, 14 August 2026

   1 report
   • Index.hr (Croatia)11:03
     Znanstvenici otkrili što se događa u psećem mozgu kad vam vide lice

     NOVO istraživanje pokazuje da pseći mozak različito obrađuje ljudske emocije.

6. Sat, 15 August 2026

   2 reports
   • Vecernji list (Croatia)08:00
     Psi znaju kada ste tužni ili uplašeni: Znanstvenici prvi put otkrili što se događa u njihovom mozgu

     Novo istraživanje pokazalo je da psi ne razlikuju samo sretna i tužna lica – njihov mozak prepoznaje i strah, ljutnju te druge ljudske emocije.

   • Vecernji list (Croatia)16:38
     Psi znaju kad je čovjek sretan ili tužan, mogu to prepoznati i na strancu

     Ovo otkriće sugerira da sretna lica, čak i ona stranaca, imaju pozitivnu vrijednost za pse

7. Thu, 20 August 2026

   1 report
   • Index.hr (Croatia)13:46
     Znanstvenici otkrili kako psi prepoznaju ljudske emocije

     NOVA studija sa Sveučilišta u Beču koristila je MRI skeniranje mozga pasa kako bi pokazala da oni prepoznaju ljudske emocije.

8. Wed, 26 August 2026

   1 report
   • Il Fatto Quotidiano (Italy)13:03
     Il tuo cane ti sta “parlando” con gli occhi (e forse non te ne sei mai accorto). Ecco i risultati sorprendenti degli studi dell’Università di Parma

     Non solo scodinzolii e sopracciglia buffe: sembra che i cani abbiano un altro modo, molto più discreto, per comunicare con noi. A dirlo è una nuova ricerca dell’Università di Parma, secondo cui anche il semplice battito di ciglia potrebbe nascondere un messaggio sociale. Lo riporta il Daily Mail. Gli studiosi hanno mostrato a 35 cani […] L'articolo Il tuo cane ti sta “parlando” con gli occhi (e forse non te ne sei mai accorto). Ecco i risultati sorprendenti degli studi dell’Università di Parma...

9. Sat, 29 August 2026

   1 report
   • torontosun.com10:38
     Dogs can tell when you’re happy, sad or frustrated, study shows