Dogs Process Numbers As Humans Do

Dogs have spontaneously seen in process of basic numerical quantities that use a distinct part of their smart brains which corresponds closely to number-responsive neural regions in humans is found in a study at Emory University.
Biology Letters published the results, which suggest that a common neural mechanism has been deeply conserved across mammalian evolution.
Gregory Berns, Emory professor of psychology and senior author of the study said that their work not only represents that dogs use a common part of their brain for processing numbers of objects as humans do but it also shows that they don't need to be trained for doing it.
Stella Lourenco who is co-author and an associate professor of psychology at Emory University has said that understanding neural mechanisms both in the humans and across species has given us insights into both how our brains has evolved over time and how it functions now.
Such insights, Lourenco has added that may at one day lead to practical applications such as for treating brain abnormalities and for improving artificial intelligence systems.
Lauren Aulet who is a PhD candidate in Lourenco's lab is the first author of this study.
The study has used unique functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for scanning dogs' brains as they have viewed varying numbers of dots that were flashed on a screen. The results has also showed that the dogs' have parietotemporal cortex and respond to differences in the number of the dots.

By: Prerana Sharma
Content: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/12/191218153339.htm