Researchers Find Dogs Can Distinguish Between Languages
2022-01-13
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1Dogs can tell the difference between different languages, researchers in Hungary have found.
2For their study, the researchers played recordings of the story "The Little Prince" in both Spanish and Hungarian to a group of 18 dogs.
3Then they examined how the animals' brains reacted.
4The study was led by Laura V. Cuaya at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest.
5She moved to Hungary from Mexico a few years ago and brought her dog Kun-kun with her.
6"I wondered whether Kun-kun noticed that people in Budapest spoke a different language, Hungarian," she said.
7She said the study found for the first time that a non-human brain can "distinguish (between) languages."
8Raul Hernandez-Perez is a co-writer of the study.
9He said that when dogs live with humans, they can learn patterns of the language they hear.
10During the experiment, Kun-kun and other dogs were trained to lie down in a brain scanner for several minutes.
11Every dog in the study had heard only one of two languages spoken by their owners-either Hungarian or Spanish.
12Then researchers compared how their brains reacted to a highly familiar language and to a completely unfamiliar one.
13Cuaya said that dogs could understand the differences in how the two languages are spoken.
14Spanish, she said, is more melodic, while Hungarian is more monotone.
15"We believe that dogs detect that," she said.
16The dogs listened to parts of "The Little Prince" in Spanish and Hungarian.
17Researchers also played scrambled versions of the story to test if they could hear the difference between speech and non-speech.
18To "scramble" a recording means to change it so that listeners are not able to understand it.
19When comparing brain reactions, researchers found clear activity in the dogs' primary auditory - or hearing - area of the brain.
20That suggested that they can distinguish between speech and non-speech.
21The dogs' secondary auditory area is for understanding complex sounds.
22This part of the dogs' brains produced different activity patterns when they heard a familiar language compared to an unfamiliar language.
23The researchers also found that the older the dogs were, the better they were able to distinguish between the two languages.
24I'm Dan Novak.
1Dogs can tell the difference between different languages, researchers in Hungary have found. 2For their study, the researchers played recordings of the story "The Little Prince" in both Spanish and Hungarian to a group of 18 dogs. Then they examined how the animals' brains reacted. 3The study was led by Laura V. Cuaya at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest. She moved to Hungary from Mexico a few years ago and brought her dog Kun-kun with her. 4"I wondered whether Kun-kun noticed that people in Budapest spoke a different language, Hungarian," she said. 5She said the study found for the first time that a non-human brain can "distinguish (between) languages." 6Raul Hernandez-Perez is a co-writer of the study. He said that when dogs live with humans, they can learn patterns of the language they hear. 7During the experiment, Kun-kun and other dogs were trained to lie down in a brain scanner for several minutes. 8Every dog in the study had heard only one of two languages spoken by their owners-either Hungarian or Spanish. Then researchers compared how their brains reacted to a highly familiar language and to a completely unfamiliar one. 9Cuaya said that dogs could understand the differences in how the two languages are spoken. Spanish, she said, is more melodic, while Hungarian is more monotone. 10"We believe that dogs detect that," she said. 11The dogs listened to parts of "The Little Prince" in Spanish and Hungarian. Researchers also played scrambled versions of the story to test if they could hear the difference between speech and non-speech. To "scramble" a recording means to change it so that listeners are not able to understand it. 12When comparing brain reactions, researchers found clear activity in the dogs' primary auditory - or hearing - area of the brain. That suggested that they can distinguish between speech and non-speech. 13The dogs' secondary auditory area is for understanding complex sounds. This part of the dogs' brains produced different activity patterns when they heard a familiar language compared to an unfamiliar language. 14The researchers also found that the older the dogs were, the better they were able to distinguish between the two languages. 15I'm Dan Novak. 16Reuters reported this story. Dan Novak adapted it for VOA Learning English. 17_______________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19distinguish - v. to notice or recognize a difference between people or things 20pattern - n. a repeated form or design especially that is used to decorate something 21scanner - n. a device that is used to see inside something 22melodic - adj. having a pleasant musical sound or melody 23monotone - adj. a way of talking or singing without raising or lowering the sound of your voice 24detect - v. to discover or notice the presence of