A new study conducted by researchers at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary has found that dogs can differentiate between different languages. The researchers analyzed the brains scans of 18 different dogs listening to the audio of “The Little Prince” in both Spanish and Hungarian. They discovered that their secondary auditory cortex was lit up and could distinguish between the two. The dogs could also tell the difference between an actual language and gibberish, but they didn’t appear to have a preference when it came to hearing one. The researchers also found that older dogs were better at distinguishing languages than younger dogs.
Zoom Out: This study marks the first time scientists have shown that a non-human brain can distinguish between two languages. It’s unknown if other non-human animals have the same ability or if dogs evolved to acquire this capability after living with humans for tens of thousands of years.
