They found another reason to love dogs Angus Dalton August 11, 2026 — 7:30pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. AdvertisementIn particular, dog brains light up at happy human faces; even smiles from strangers activate the same region of a dog’s brain that responds to rewards such as toys and treats. What a human smile does to a dog’s brain The study was undertaken in Hungary and Mexico. AdvertisementThey gathered a group of 14 dogs, made up of border collies (including the researchers’ own dogs, Odin and Kun-kun), golden retrievers, a labrador and a mutt. AdvertisementTraining complete, the dogs were scanned while researchers showed them images of human faces that were happy, sad, angry, fearful or neutral.