Thursday, September 17, 2026
Science

Dogs show human-like brain activity when they restrain themselves

When we tell a dog "no" and it resists temptation, what happens in its brain? New research from the Department of Ethology at ELTE and the HUN-REN Research Centre of Natural Sciences suggests that dogs may do more than respond automatically: When they restrain their behavior, their brains show a pat...

Dogs show human-like brain activity when they restrain themselves
Image: Phys.org
When we tell a dog "no" and it resists temptation, what happens in its brain? New research from the Department of Ethology at ELTE and the HUN-REN Research Centre of Natural Sciences suggests that dogs may do more than respond automatically: When they restrain their behavior, their brains show a pattern of activity resembling the human neural signature of self-control. The study is published in the journal Animal Cognition.

Originally published at Phys.org

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