New Delhi, Aug. 13 -- What makes a dog slink away from a cranky person, while quietly approaching and leaning against someone who is weeping? Most dog owners have seen this play out, according to an article published on The Conversation - their pets responding, in their own way, to human feelings. Science agrees that dogs have emotions too, and these social skills are thought to underpin how successfully dogs have adapted to living alongside humans, the article notes.

But could a dog actually tell an angry person's face apart from a sad or fearful one? New research published in the journal iScience explored exactly that question, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of dogs' brains, and turned up some striking findings, according...