Your dog knows what you are saying!

A study from a Hungarian university seems to show that dogs understand what you are saying and how you are saying it.

The research focused on family dogs that were taught to stay down for 7 minutes without moving. The dogs were then brain scanned and during the scan their owners spoke words of praise in both neutral and higher-pitched (happy) sounds.

With neutral words only the left side of the brains lit up under the scanner. With happy, tonal sounds only the right side of the brain lit up. This is the same way humans process language, according to Wired.com.

When praise was spoken in words with a happy tone, both regions of the brain lit up, suggesting the dog knew the word and meaning.

The researchers’ conclusion: Language is not uniquely human.