Pet First | Dogs Show Human-Like Brain Response To Speech Patterns, Study Finds

Pet First | Dogs’ brains can process continuous human speech and show a preference for consonant-based word patterns, a new study by ELTE researchers finds.

Pet First | Dogs’ brains show a preference for consonant-based patterns while processing continuous human speech, according to a new study.

Source : ABPLIVE AI

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Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom

• Dogs' brains synchronize with human speech rhythm, preferring consonant patterns.
• New study showed dogs' brains favor consonant-structured words, like humans'.
• Dogs process speech by syllables, unlike humans' individual sound processing.
• Consonant bias appears due to pattern learning, not pre-wired language.

Dogs may be more attuned to the structure of human speech than previously understood. A peer-reviewed study by researchers at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest has found that dogs’ brains can synchronise with the rhythm of continuous human speech, showing a preference for patterns built around consonants.

Published in Science, the research offers the first evidence that a “consonant bias” can emerge in the brain of a species other than humans. The finding also sheds light on how dogs process the speech they hear from people around them.

Dogs’ Brains Responded More Strongly to Consonant Patterns

Researchers from ELTE’s Neuroethology of Communication Lab compared the brain activity of 20 humans and 20 companion dogs. Both groups listened to continuous speech without clear pauses separating individual words.

The researchers created speech streams containing recurring three-syllable patterns. In some, consonants formed the underlying word structure, while others were based on recurring vowel patterns. A separate stream contained no repeating structure.

Using non-invasive EEG recordings, scientists measured how closely brain activity followed the rhythms present in the speech.

The results showed that dogs synchronised more strongly with speech streams in which consonants provided the structure of words. Human participants displayed the same response.

“Words are made up of two main types of speech sounds: vowels and consonants. Although vowels are louder and more noticeable, consonants usually form the skeleton of words,” said Attila Andics, cognitive neuroscientist and corresponding author of the study.

Kinga G. Tóth, psychologist and co-first author, said, “In the consonant-structured speech streams, the dog brains, just like the human brains, successfully synchronised with the rhythm of the words.”

Study Reveals Differences In How Humans, Dogs Process Speech

The researchers also noticed a change in brain activity roughly 400 milliseconds after the start of each word, but this response appeared only when the words were organised around consonants. According to the researchers, this timing falls within a period associated with breaking continuous speech into individual words.

Interestingly, the same consonant preference appeared in dogs that had not grown up in speech-rich homes. Dogs that spent their first three months on the street or in shelters also showed a strong consonant bias.

“This provides further evidence that consonant bias does not require pre-wired language-processing mechanisms that emerge during a specific early developmental period. Instead, this neural preference may also emerge through relatively simple forms of pattern learning,” Tóth said.

However, the researchers also found clear differences between the two species. Humans were able to identify words based on vowel patterns, although they did so less effectively than with consonant-based words. Dogs, meanwhile, did not show the same ability.

Both humans and dogs responded to the rhythm of syllables, but only human brains synchronised with the rhythm of individual speech sounds. This suggests that humans process continuous speech at a finer level, using individual sounds as separate units, while dogs appear to treat syllables as their smallest processing units.

“Taken together, these findings suggest that the brain's tuning to speech and specifically the emergence of consonant bias does not require a pre-wired brain and human-like language abilities,” Andics said, adding, “Instead, regular exposure to speech may be enough to change how the brain functions and to give rise to processing characteristics previously observed only in humans even in a species evolutionarily distant from us.”

[Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is based on findings from a scientific research study and is intended for general informational purposes only. The study’s findings should not be interpreted as definitive evidence of canine language understanding or behaviour. Readers should refer to the original research and qualified animal behaviour or veterinary professionals for further guidance.]

(With inputs from ANI)

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