The debate whether dogs or cats are the smartest pet has begun decades ago, if not centuries. But a new idea is sure to ruffle the cat lovers, new research shows that dogs are more intelligent than their cats after all.
Experts showed that dogs have more than twice as many brain cells in a region linked with thinking, planning and other advanced behaviours. The researchers, from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, say how many neurons an animal's brain has is a character of intelligence. Researchers found that dogs possess around 530 million neurons, while cats only have around 250 million. By comparison, a human brain has around 16 billion neurons. “I believe the absolute number of neurons an animal has determines their internal mental state and their ability to predict what is about to happen in their environment based on past experience,” study lead author Dr Herculano-Houzel said.
The researchers found that bigger brains do not necessarily mean more neurons. The brain of a kind of dog which can help people hunt was found to have more neurons than a brown bear, for example, despite being three times smaller. In terms of brain size, one of the most intelligent animals was found to be a raccoon. “They have a fairly small brain, but they have as many neurons as you would expect to find… and that's a lot of neurons.”
The team warns that intelligence is a subjective measurement, meaning their study doesn't conclusively show that dogs are smarter than cats. Dr Herculano-Houzel added, “At least, we now have some biology that people can factor into their discussions about who’s smarter, cats or dogs.”
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