London: (The Conversation) Your dog tilts its head when you cry or paces when you're stressed. That's not coincidence - dogs are hardwired to tune in to human emotions.

Research shows dogs' brains have voice-processing regions like ours, lighting up for emotionally charged sounds such as laughter, crying or anger. They also read faces: seeing a familiar human activates their emotional and reward centres.

Dogs can “catch” your emotions, a phenomenon called emotional contagion. Studies found dog-human pairs even synchronise heartbeats during stress.

Eye contact triggers an oxytocin surge - the “love hormone” - in both dogs and humans, reinforcing bonds much like between parent and child. This loop is unique to domesticated dogs.

Dogs also read body language and can smell emotions; sweat from fearful humans makes them anxious. Thousands of years of co-evolution have made them experts at reading us. They may not know your thoughts, but they feel your feelings - and that connection is profound.