For this study, two dogs were trained to remain immobile inside an MRI chamber. While they were being scanned, the dogs were given a series of hand signals to inform them that a treat either would or would not be offered. As expected, the reward center area of the brain showed significantly more activity in response to the reward signal than to the no-reward hand signal. As the success of this experiment opens the door for future MRI research on dogs, the authors model high ethical standards, including choice and positive rewards only, which they urge other researchers to apply.

[Abstract excerpted from original source.]

“Because of dogs’ prolonged evolution with humans, many of the canine cognitive skills are thought to represent a selection of traits that make dogs particularly sensitive to human cues. But how does the dog mind actually work? To develop a methodology to answer this question, we trained two dogs to remain motionless for the duration required to collect quality fMRI images by using positive reinforcement without sedation or physical restraints. The task was designed to determine which brain circuits differentially respond to human hand signals denoting the presence or absence of a food reward. Head motion within trials was less than 1 mm. Consistent with prior reinforcement learning literature, we observed caudate activation in both dogs in response to the hand signal denoting reward versus no-reward.”