Dogs respond best to female voices, study finds

Research shows that dogs particularly love the female voice, responding best to sounds with characteristic intonation and accents. It turns out that their brains function in a way very similar to an infant's brain.

The relationship between humans and dogs is one of the longest-lasting and most symbiotic in the history of evolution. Thousands of years ago, it was already noted that dogs could be excellent companions in hunting, protection, and also as friends.

Dogs have an incredible ability to understand human communication, with brains attuned to the female way of speaking. They behave similarly to infants, who react vividly to the characteristic, higher pitch of the mother's voice.

When communicating with small beings, our intonation and accent change. Repeatedly emphasizing individual words and using a higher pitch supports cognitive, social, and language development in children. This attunement to a specific style of speaking also occurs in dogs.

A study published in the scientific journal "Communications Biology" demonstrated that dogs respond better to female voices full of high tones and exaggerated prosody. Repeated accents and a stronger emphasis on intonation result in a stronger brain response.

Hungarian scientists from the Department of Ethology at Loránd Eötvös University, the Research Centre for Natural Sciences, and the Loránd Eötvös Research Network conducted a study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the brain activity of trained dogs. The study involved 12 women and 12 men who spoke to the dogs in three different styles: typical dog-directed speech, infant-directed speech, and adult speech.

The study showed that the auditory regions in the dogs' brains responded more strongly to dog-directed and infant-directed speech. Moreover, dogs were significantly more likely to listen and respond to commands given by women.