Study shows dogs are more visually attuned to actions rather than who or what is performing them

Ever wondered what your dog is thinking when it gazes at the TV, seemingly fascinated by the News At Ten? Scientists have discovered that your pooch probably isn't focused on Huw Edwards specifically, but more what the people on screen are doing. Study dogs at Emory University in Georgia, USA had their brains scanned by an MRI machine while watching a half-hour video of stimulating content. This included clips of dogs running around, humans interacting with each other, vehicles passing by, and a cat in a house. Data from the MRI was fed into an artificial intelligence (AI) called Ivis, which correlated brain activity with whether an action or object was shown on screen. Results showed that dogs are vastly more visually attuned to actions in their environment, rather than who or what is performing those actions.