NEW YORK CITY, New York (CNN Newsource) — Have you ever wondered if your cat is ignoring you — or just doesn’t know its name?

Well, researchers from Japan wanted to find out, so they experimented to see how cats would react to their names, in the cat’s home and with their owner out of view.

Researchers played audio recordings of the cat’s owner and strangers saying nouns similar to the cat’s name, and then finally the cat’s name.

They say most of the cats reacted when their names were spoken, moving their heads or perking up their ears. Which leads researchers to believe cats are able to distinguish their name from other random sounds, but they choose to ignore our calls to come hang out.

The study was published in Scientific Reports back in April and was conducted by Atsuko Saito, Kazutaka Shinozuka, Yuki Ito & Toshikazu Hasegawa.

“This work has shed new light on the ability of cats to communicate with humans; further clarifying cats’ abilities with respect to cat–human communication will potentially enhance the welfare of both humans and cats,” the study stated.