Posted on 11/30/2017 2:24:06 PM PST by JimSEA
There's a new twist to the perennial argument about which is smarter, cats or dogs.
It has to do with their brains, specifically the number of neurons in their cerebral cortex: the "little gray cells" associated with thinking, planning and complex behavior -- all considered hallmarks of intelligence.
The first study to actually count the number of cortical neurons in the brains of a number of carnivores, including cats and dogs, has found that dogs possess significantly more of them than cats.
"In this study, we were interested in comparing different species of carnivorans to see how the numbers of neurons in their brains relate to the size of their brains, including a few favorite species including cats and dogs, lions and brown bears," said Associate Professor of Psychology and Biological Sciences Suzana Herculano-Houzel, who developed the method for accurately measuring the number of neurons in brains.
(Carnivora is a diverse order that consists of 280 species of mammals all of which have teeth and claws that allow them to eat other animals.)
The results of the study are described in a paper titled "Dogs have the most neurons, though not the largest brain: Trade-off between body mass and number of neurons in the cerebral cortex of large carnivoran species" accepted for publication in the open access journal Frontiers in Neuroanatomy.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
I knew that raccoon was smarter than me.
Brainier as in more likely to follow your instructions? Or in more likely to get you to do what they want?
The author.
Sounds like the Man / Woman dynamic.
Cats scare to easy.☺
Brains have less to do with it than “scientists” think.
Why the hell do you think Grumpy cat is grumpy?
Cause he is tired of this hogwash!
At least cats are smart enough to NOT ‘bark at the moon’ for hours and hours.
the cats say those extra things are just for emotions.. we don’t need them as we are much more methodical...
I’ve never seen a dog stroke out because it saw a cucumber, either.
;)
With this study, cats now have dogs exactly where they want’em.
I’ve never seen anything on YouTube where a dog outsmarts a cat but I have seen plenty the other way around. I’ve had dogs and cats and cats are by far smarter. This makes me wonder what the hell of a lot of neurons are good for :)
Did you know if they let a dog talk all he would say would be bacon. If you let a cat talk all he would say is why are you making me talk!
My joke, sorry. I am a doggie person these days. Cats way smarter than dogs, just sayin’!
The first week I brought home our current dog from a shelter one night could hear my hubby laughing and Fredd running around the living room.
Hubby had his red laser light on and Fredd was trying to catch it. He still goes nuts over that red beam.
Uh huh.
My dog reacts expeditiously to 20 different commands. How about your cat?
My cats have learned to ignore my 20 different commands given to them in five languages, and, sometimes, four different power-point presentations ...
LOL This.
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