The main sense for us human beings is the view: our perception of the world starts from what we see, and is then enriched with other sensory stimuli. For dogs, however, the fundamental sense is the sense of smell: they are 10,000 times better than us to identify the smellsand form their image of the world starting from what they sniff. So far, however, we hadn’t had the opportunity to explore thoroughly what happens in their brain When they make the nose go: we did a team from Bar Ilan University, in Israel, who in a study published on Journal of Biophotonics illustrates a new method of analysis, which has allowed us to understand What parts of the dog brain are more active when they sniff.
Smells and brain. The main problem in the study of the brain of dogs is that the analysis methods are generally expensive and above all uncomfortable, given that they need specimens that know how to be motionless while they are analyzed – and not all dogs have this degree of obedience. The Israeli team used instead A non -invasive methodwhich monitors the brain activity of dogs thanks to the use of green laserwhich is able to penetrate the skin and bones of dogs.
Non -invasive investigation. Used in tandem with a high definition camera, the green laser has made it possible to “illuminate” three areas in particular of the brain of dogs that activate when they sniff: the olfactory bulb, which “Processed” the smellsthe hippocampus, which is linked to the Training of memoriesand the amygdala, who is responsible for emotional responses to stimuli.
The Canina Madeleine. The study, which saw a series of dogs studied while smelling four different very pungent smells (alcohol, marijuana, chin, garlic), made it possible to highlight The importance of the amygdala: according to the authors, this means that there is also one Emotional component in annusing dogsand therefore in the way they perceive the world.
In fact, it is not surprising to discover that dogs associate different moods with certain smells: for example, think of how they react in the waiting room of a veterinarian, which stimulates in their sensations that are anything but positive. According to the study, this discovery suggests that, In the training of nose dogs, it is essential to take into account their emotional states. Not only that: the authors think that it is possible to develop specialized tools that know “Translate” the emotional responses of dogs to a certain smell.
