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

The Guardian · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · Aug 10, 2026 · 681 words · By Nicola Davis

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What to know about Dogs can distinguish between fearful and angry or sad human faces, brain scans suggest

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.

Claims checked 15

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left14%

Center72%

Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

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 tended to only test two at a time, one positive and one negative.

Common ground

As a result, it was not clear if dogs could distinguish different types of happy or unhappy faces.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Dogs can distinguish between fearful and angry or sad human faces, brain scans suggest?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that research has revealed dog brains can distinguish different types of unhappy human faces?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/10/dogs-distinguish-fearful-angry-sad…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 15 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 5

info Single Source 3

check_circle Corroborated 3

cancel Disputed 2

verified Verified By Reference 2

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Claim 1: “research has revealed dog brains can distinguish different types of unhappy human faces”

DISPUTED

Two sources state that dog brains can differentiate between different types of negative expressions (fearful vs angry/sad), but a third source explicitly states that the analysis 'could differentiate happy faces from each negative expression but not between different types of unhappy faces.'

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web search NEUTRAL — Hernández said different negative expressions might trigger different responses as they represented a different type of threat. The authors said it might be harder for dogs to tell apart two human fac…
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/10/dogs-distingui…

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web search NEUTRAL — How the Dog Brain Processes Human Facial Expressions.This is the first demonstration that dog brains can differentiate between emotions of the same valence—meaning they can tell apart different types …
https://grandgoldman.com/blogs/business/dog-brains-distingui…

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web search NEUTRAL — A recent study has found that dogs can tell apart different types of unhappy human faces.The analysis revealed that this activity could differentiate happy faces from each negative expression but not …
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/science/study-shows-dogs-c…

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Claim 2: “The research has limitations, including small sample size; most of the dogs being border collies, and all were healthy and without behavioural problems”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 3: “Bridget Waller, a professor of evolution and social behaviour at Nottingham Trent University”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 4: “previous behavioural studies had shown dogs could tell apart some human facial expressions, but such studies tended to only test two at a time, one positive and one negative”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim is mentioned in the Guardian article, but the provided web search results for this specific claim only return dictionary definitions of the word 'previous' rather than scientific corroboration of the study's background.

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web search NEUTRAL — 6 days ago · The meaning of PREVIOUS is going before in time or order : prior. How to use previous in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Previous.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/previous

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web search NEUTRAL — PREVIOUS definition: 1. happening or existing before something or someone else: 2. If someone has previous, they have…. Learn more.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/previous

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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · How is the word previous distinct from other similar adjectives? Some common synonyms of previous are antecedent, anterior, foregoing, former, preceding, and prior. While all these words …
https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/previous

info

Claim 5: “the team’s previous research has suggested dogs do not have a particular region of the brain devoted to processing faces”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists only of dictionary definitions for the word 'previous' and contains no information regarding dog brain regions or face processing.

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verified

Claim 6: “The team then carried out a second MRI experiment involving 12 dogs”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided Wikipedia results explain what MRI contrast agents and MRI scanners are in general, but do not mention a specific second experiment involving 12 dogs from this study.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — MRI contrast agents are contrast agents used to improve the visibility of internal body structures in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The most commonly used compounds for contrast enhancement are ga…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MRI_contrast_agent

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_resonance_imaging

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Matz's Ruby Interpreter or Ruby MRI (also called CRuby) is an implementation of the Ruby programming language named after Ruby creator Yukihiro Matsumoto ("Matz"). Until the specification of the Ruby …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_MRI

info

Claim 7: “Writing in the journal iScience, Cuaya and colleagues report how they worked with pet dogs that had been trained to voluntarily lie still, awake and unrestrained, within an MRI scanner”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of links to online study tools (Study.com, Quizlet) and does not mention the iScience journal or the MRI study with dogs.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Master any subject with Studley AI. Trusted by more than 3 million top students. Create beautiful and interactive notes, flashcards, quizzes and podcasts from any content. Study smarter, not harder.
https://www.studley.ai/

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web search NEUTRAL — How do you want to study? Discover, create, and master your study material — all in one place. Take control of your learning and hit your goals with Quizlet.
https://quizlet.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — Take online courses on Study.com that are fun and engaging. Pass exams to earn real college credit. Research schools and degrees to further your education.
https://study.com/

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Claim 8: “Each was shown new sets of unfamiliar male and female human faces, this time bearing four different expressions: happiness, sadness, fear and anger”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 9: “revealing such activity could distinguish happy faces from each negative expression – but could not distinguish between different types of unhappy face”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 10: “Dr Laura Cuaya, a co-author of the study from the University of Vienna”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources confirm Dr. Laura Cuaya is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Vienna and a co-author of the study.

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web search NEUTRAL — Laura V. Cuaya. Doctor of Philosophy. Postdoctoral fellow at University of Vienna.How we measure 'reads'. A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract…
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Laura-Cuaya

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web search NEUTRAL — 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 tended to only…
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/10/dogs-distingui…

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web search NEUTRAL — Laura Cuaya/University of Vienna The image shows two researchers - a man on the left and a woman on the right - standing next to the bed of a medical scanner. Sitting on the bed are two relaxed, happy…
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8kr3yrl6eo

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Claim 11: “In the first experiment, eight dogs were shown five sets of happy faces and five sets of neutral faces”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web search results confirm that the first experiment involved eight dogs viewing five sets of happy faces and five sets of neutral faces.

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web search NEUTRAL — In the first experiment, eight dogs were shown five sets of happy faces and five sets of neutral faces. Each set contained four photos of humans that were unfamiliar to the dog but were of the same ge…
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/10/dogs-distingui…

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web search NEUTRAL — In the first experiment, eight dogs were shown five sets of happy faces and five sets of neutral faces. The results showed increased activity in certain brain regions when happy faces were presented a…
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/science/study-shows-dogs-c…

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web search NEUTRAL — The researchers began with eight dogs and compared their brain activity while they viewed happy and neutral human faces. Faces in general activated visual and temporal areas.
https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/brain-scans-reveal-wha…

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Claim 12: “Cuaya and colleagues have revealed dog brains can not only distinguish happy faces from other expressions, but can tell apart different negative expressions, distinguishing fearful faces from those that are angry or sad”

DISPUTED

Similar to claim 0, there is a direct contradiction in the evidence. Some sources claim dogs can tell apart fearful faces from angry/sad ones, while one source explicitly states they could NOT differentiate between different types of unhappy faces.

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web search NEUTRAL — The dog (Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris) is a domesticated descendant of wolves. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. Dogs…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog

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web search NEUTRAL — Selection of different dog breeds This list of dog breeds includes both extant and extinct dog breeds, varieties and types. A research article on dog genomics published in Science/AAAS defines modern …
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dog_breeds

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web search NEUTRAL — A German Shepherd is a type of dog Dogs are mammals, usually to be kept as pets, or work on farms or for the police. Some dogs are trained to be rescue dogs and join teams such as mountain rescue. [4]…
https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog

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Claim 13: “when the team analysed activity in the whole dog brain, they found it was possible to distinguish between sad v fearful faces, and angry v fearful faces... but not angry and sad faces”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 14: “The results revealed increased activity in certain parts of the brain when the dogs were shown happy faces compared with neutral ones”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm that the results showed increased brain activity in certain regions when dogs were shown happy faces compared to neutral ones.

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web search NEUTRAL — Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. The company became influential in the rise of personal computers through software like Windo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft

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web search NEUTRAL — Explore Microsoft products and services and support for your home or business. Shop Microsoft 365, Copilot, Teams, Xbox, Windows, Azure, Surface and more.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us

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web search NEUTRAL — Access and manage your Microsoft account, subscriptions, and settings all in one place.
https://myaccount.microsoft.com/

verified

Claim 15: “Dr Raúl Hernández Pérez, the first author of the study”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided Wikipedia results discuss a Mexican-American physician from 1914 and a 1950 film, providing no evidence regarding a Dr. Raúl Hernández Pérez as the author of a modern iScience study.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Héctor Pérez García (January 17, 1914 – July 26, 1996) was a Mexican-American physician, surgeon, World War II veteran, civil rights advocate, and founder of the American GI Forum (AGIF). As a result …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Héctor_P._García

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This article contains a list of well-known Mexicans in science, publication, arts, politics and sports.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mexicans

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Doorman (Spanish: El portero), also known as Puerta, joven (Spanish: Door, Young Man or The Door, Please), is a 1950 Mexican comedy film directed by Miguel M. Delgado and starring Mario Moreno «Ca…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doorman_(1950_film)

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.