The powerful bond between humans and dogs is one
that’s uniquely cherished. Loyal, obedient, and
affectionate, they are truly “man’s best friend.” But do
dogs love us the way we love them? Emory University
neuroscientist Gregory Berns had spent decades using MRI
imaging technology to study how the human brain works,
but a different question still nagged at him: What is my
dog thinking? After his family adopted Callie, a shy,
skinny terrier mix, Berns decided that there was only
one way to answer that question—use an MRI machine to
scan the dog’s brain. His colleagues dismissed the idea.
Everyone knew that dogs needed to be restrained or
sedated for MRI scans. But if the military could train
dogs to operate calmly in some of the most challenging
environments, surely there must be a way to train dogs
to sit in an MRI scanner. With this radical
conviction, Berns and his dog would embark on a
remarkable journey and be the first to glimpse the inner
workings of the canine brain. Painstakingly, the two
worked together to overcome the many technical, legal,
and behavioral hurdles. Berns’s research offers
surprising results on how dogs empathize with human
emotions, how they love us, and why dogs and humans
share one of the most remarkable friendships in the
animal kingdom. How Dogs Love Us answers the
age-old question of dog lovers everywhere and offers
profound new evidence that dogs should be treated as we
would treat our best human friends: with love, respect,
and appreciation for their social and emotional
intelligence.
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