Source: The Harvard Gazette
At Harvard’s Canine Brains Lab, photographer Elias Weiss Friedman, known for “The Dogist,” participated in an empathy experiment with Sasha, the Harvard University Police Department’s community engagement dog. Run by professor Erin Hecht, the lab studies dog behavior and cognition using both behavioral tests and MRI imaging to explore how dogs think and feel. Hecht and Friedman later discussed their different visual approaches to understanding dogs during a fireside chat at Kirkland House.
Hecht uses MRIs to study fearfulness, aggression, and trainability, while Friedman captures dogs’ candid emotional expressions through photography. Both highlighted dogs’ deep bonds with humans and their social intelligence, shaped through domestication. Hecht noted dogs’ varying cognitive styles across breeds, while Friedman reflected on the emotional power of his work, particularly a photo of a scarred pit bull named Pudding that changed how he viewed his project. Hecht’s lab is also recruiting dogs and children for studies on early stress and human-animal bonds.
Read the full story HERE: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/05/he-studies-dogs-faces-she-studies-their-brains/