Gregory Berns

How Dogs Love Us: a Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain Gregory Berns

Publisher Marketing: 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." Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 10/01/2013 (EAN 9780544114517, Hardcover) New York Times Book Review 12/08/2013 pg. 40 (EAN 9780544114517, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Berns, Gregory Gregory Berns, M. D., Ph. D., is the Distinguished Professor of Neuroeconomics at Emory University. His research has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Los Angeles Times, Nature, Money, New Scientist, Psychology Today, and on CNN, NPR, ABC, and the BBC. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife, two children, and three dogs.