Mary Allen
This question divides dog and cat owners: who is smarter – cats or dogs? A scientist from the United States took a closer look at the brains of several animal species. The result should please dog lovers.
Dogs learn tricks, cats, on the other hand, have a mind of their own – but what does that say about the intelligence of animals? With the exception of a vague gut, unfortunately, very little.
But there are also scientists studying the cognitive abilities of animals. One of them is Susana Herculano-Hausel of Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.
For the study, the neuroscientist and her team examined the brains of eight different animal species, in addition to dogs and cats, ferrets, lions, and bears, to determine the number of neurons.
Dogs Have Twice as Many Neurons in Their Cerebral Cortex as Cats
They found that in feline brains, the cerebral cortex is only half as many neurons as in dogs. This part of the brain provides complex and flexible perception.
Thus, the result suggests that dogs have better cognitive abilities than cats.
Researchers have found about 250 million neurons in the cerebral cortex of cats, 430 million in small dogs, and 620 million in Golden Retrievers. By comparison, humans have the largest number of neurons in the cerebral cortex, with an average of 16 billion.
However, this did not come as a surprise to scientists. Scientists also found that Golden Retrievers have even more neurons than hyenas, lions, and brown bears, although their cerebral cortex is three times larger.
The density of neurons in brown bears, which has the largest studied cerebral cortex, is even comparable to that of cats.
And what do these scientific discoveries say about the intelligence of dogs and cats? The number of neurons cannot be transferred one-to-one to the intellect. Because other factors also influence its definition …
And to be honest, we still love our dogs and cats – no matter how smart they are.