麻豆淫院

A team of life scientists at the University of Parma in Italy has found that dogs tend to blink more in response to other dogs doing the same. In their study in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the group conducted lab experiments with dogs watching videos of other dogs blinking.

Prior research has shown that when two people face each other and one of them blinks, the other will likely do so in response鈥攁nd neither of them will be aware of it. Prior research has also suggested that blinking between individuals is a form of bonding. Other primates have been observed doing the same thing. In this new effort, the researchers wanted to know if it also happens with dogs.

To find out, the researchers filmed several dogs as they looked into the lens of a camera鈥攕ometimes, the dogs were blinking, other times they were not. They also filmed dogs licking their noses, a gesture associated with frustration or sometimes eagerness. The team then edited the footage to create videos showing dogs blinking, not blinking, licking their noses or not licking their noses. Then they affixed heart monitors to 54 test dogs who watched the dog videos while the research team studied their reactions.

The researchers found that those dogs who did not fall asleep blinked approximately 16% more often when watching the videos with the blinking compared to the other two types of videos. The researchers were not able to ascertain if the blinking came directly after seeing a blink on the screen and propose that future research could explore that.

However, they suggest that the increased blinking when watching another dog blinking more than normal suggests communication and response, perhaps a form of bonding, as with humans and other primates. They also note that it did not appear that the viewer dogs were blinking more on purpose鈥攍ike humans, it seemed they were unaware of their increased blinking.

The research team suggests that blinking in dogs could be another part of facial mimicry, in which dogs respond to other dogs yawning or making playful faces by doing the same, typically as a way to bond.

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