这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
Researchers in Hungary have now confirmed what many dog owners already knew. Dogs or canines can understand our feelings. Scientists using a Magnetic Resonance Scanner, or MRI, to learn about dog emotions. The research showed that they are quite similar to the emotions of humans.
匈牙利研究人员目前证实了很多狗主人早就知道的狗能理解我们的感受。科学家使用核磁共振扫描仪（简称MRI）来了解狗的情绪。该研究表明它们非常类似于人类的情绪。
An MRI uses magnetic fields to produce images of the inside of the body. MRIs are painless, and do not require the patient to be cut open. However, the patient must remain still, and the patient must be awake to record brain activity.
核磁共振扫描仪利用磁场生成身体内部图像。核磁共振成像是无痛的，患者也无需开刀。然而，患者必须保持不动，同时病人必须保持清醒以记录大脑活动。
In the past, dogs have not being good MRI patients. They are not usually calm in a laboratory. But researchers at ELTE University in Hungary petted the dogs and gave them food treats. As a result, the scientists were able to capture images of the dogs' brains. Researcher Attila Andics says the study will help explain the relationships between dogs and humans.
在过去，狗做不成核磁共振，它们在实验室通常不够平静。但匈牙利罗兰大学的研究人员爱抚这些狗狗并用美食款待它们。由此，科学家们得以捕捉到这些狗狗的大脑图像。研究员阿提拉·安第西斯（Attila Andics）表示，该研究有助于解释狗和人类之间的关系。
"We have known for a long time that dogs and humans share similar social environment, but now our results show that dogs and humans also have similar brain mechanisms to process social information," said Andics.
安第西斯说，“我们早就认识到狗和人类有着相似的社会环境，但现在我们的研究结果表明，狗和人类还有着处理社会信息的类似大脑机制。”
Researchers trained 11 dogs to stay completely still while images were taken of their brains. The researchers tested the dogs' reactions to about 200 emotional sounds, including crying, playful barking and laughing. Then they compared the dog reactions with reactions from humans in the study. The researchers discovered that the reactions were similar.
研究人员训练了11条狗，让它们在扫描其大脑图像时保持完全静止。研究人员测试了这些狗狗对大约200种感性声音的反应，包括哭泣、顽皮的狗叫声和笑声。然后将这些狗狗的反应与这项研究中人类的反应作对比。研究人员发现，这些反应是相似的。
The dog brain is also being studied at Duke University, in North Carolina. Evan MacLean is the Co-Director of the school's Canine Cognition Center. He feels the Hungarian results are an important step forward.
北卡罗莱纳州杜克大学也正在研究狗的大脑。埃文·麦克莱恩（Evan MacLean）是该校犬类认知中心的联合主任。他认为匈牙利的研究结果向前迈出了很重要的一步。
"We've known for a long time that dogs have a lot of behavioral similarities compared to humans. But we don't know anything or very little at least about whether some of these behaviors are represented similarly inside the brain of the dog, so this research is providing a first glimpses to whether these behavioral similarities are underlined by similar neural processes," said MacLean.
麦克莱恩说，“我们早就认识到，狗和人类有很多的行为相似性。但我们对有些行为是否代表着狗的大脑内部也相似毫无所知或知之甚少。因此，这项研究就这些行为相似性是否由类似神经处理过程主导揭开了冰山一角。”
This findings are not just important to dogs and the people who love them. Mr Andics says that the study establishes a new type of comparative brain science, it expands the possibilities for research.
这一研究发现的重要性对狗和爱狗者来说并不相同。安第西斯表示，该研究建立了一门新型比较脑科学，它拓展了研究的可能性。
He says it was not possible to measure the brain activities of a non-primate and a primate in a single experiment until now. And the Hungarian scientists say the study has a message for ordinary dog owners too, treat your dogs as a friend, and not just an animal. Now, there is scientific proof that they do in fact understand what you are feeling.
他说，到目前为止，尚无法在单一试验中测量非灵长类和灵长类的大脑活动。而匈牙利科学家们表示，这项研究对普通狗主人的启示是，把狗当成朋友而不仅仅是动物。目前有科学证据表明它们确实明白你的感受。
And that's the Technology Report from VOA Learning English. I'm Jonathan Evans.
以上就是本期美国之音慢速英语科技报道的全部内容，我是乔纳森·埃文斯（Jonathan Evans）。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)