We look our dog in the eyes. And he, or he, gives us that delicious look that can melt our hearts. But when we restrain ourselves, we may wonder: What does our furry friend really think? And, no matter how close we feel to it, our dog is a comrade Remember the beautiful things we lived together?
We may be interested If our dog has memories, Or if you experience them just like us. Or if, for example, he remembers the puppy’s childhood or the first time he met us.
We know that we love dogs (and also that we love and miss cats). We also have no doubt that we remember them, as evidenced by the many moving videos of humans and their dogs reuniting; Even after months and years, without seeing each other.
It is unclear to us whether In memory of our dogsThat is, the record that personal experience leaves in your brain works just like ours. Nor do our furry comrades use the same brain structures to create their memories. Or if they remember what we lived through, for example, our last vacation together.
The answer is difficultEven for science. However, some researchers have tackled the challenge and moved forward to better understand the dog’s mind: how memories are formed and stored in our non-human life partners.
To better understand what our dogs remember and what brain structures they use to maintain learning, neuroscience distinguishes between two basic types of memory.
On one hand, Semantic memory, Which requires conscious learning and is associated with our academic learning: arithmetic or language. And it gives us knowledge about the world around us, but it is not related to the moment of time.
There is no doubt that our dogs have a semantic memory, in their canine way! We know that they know us by both their appearance and their smell, that they remember what kind of toys they like and which is their favorite. They also have no difficulty identifying a favorite place on the couch or their favorite food!
What was not so clear was whether our furry friends could process (and store) what, where, or when. What is it called Episodic memory.
In our case, it forms many memories that we live with: depending on what we ate on a particular day, such as a beach vacation (and no, our dog does not get angry if we do not travel with him.) Or who was with us that day, When we adopted our furry friend.
However, we now know this A dog can remember negative experiences And that you may even need post-traumatic stress disorder. In other words, unwanted experiences can affect their behavior in the medium to long term. We know that dogs returning from war zones show symptoms that are very similar to the traumatic responses of human soldiers.
They not only maintain a traumatic experience. Recent studies in dog cognition have shown that dogs also remember what their humans did, even when they were not taught to record it clearly; That is, without making a specific mark or pattern.
Which, in the opinion of these researchers, suggests that dogs, like us, have episodic memory, which allows them to store in the brain what, where, or when the event is. This episodic memory makes it easy for them to record memories in their brains that relate to certain times and places.
To do this, the researchers say, they also use structures and Mechanisms of brain learning similar to ours. Enabling them to remember moments and situations the way we do; For example, a day at the beach with loved ones. Or sleep next to us until we close our ears to him!
“While almost all of us doubted that our dogs could remember certain moments, now we also know that in addition, they use The same mechanisms of memory formation Than humans. And that they use them to remember past events and moments, even when they do not consider them important or essential to their survival, ”concludes Claudia Fugaza, a researcher in the Department of Etiology at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and lead author of this study. , The results of which were published in the scientific journal Current Biology.
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Source: El Diario
I’m an experienced news author and editor based in New York City. I specialize in covering healthcare news stories for Today Times Live, helping to keep readers informed on the latest developments related to the industry. I have a deep understanding of medical topics, including emerging treatments and drugs, the changing laws that regulate healthcare providers, and other matters that affect public health.
