Sorry cats, after centuries of debate the verdict has finally been reached.  Dogs are indeed smarter than cats!  According to an international team of scientists from six universities, dogs’ brains have more than twice as many cortical neurons than cats’ brains.  These neurons are linked to thinking, planning and complex behavior.  Thus making dogs smarter than cats.  Can’t argue with science!  But if you don’t believe me, you can read their findings yourself in the journal Frontiers in Neuroanatomy.

According to their research, dogs have about 530 million cortical neurons, while cats have about 250 million.  Neurons are a special type of nerve cell that transmit messages.  As Suzana Herculano-Houzel, associate professor of psychology and biological sciences at Vanderbilt University, who developed the method the team used to count the neurons explained, “I believe the absolute number of neurons an animal has, especially in the cerebral cortex, determines the richness of their internal mental state and their ability to predict what is about to happen in their environment based on past experience.”  In short, “dogs have the biological capability of doing much more complex and flexible things with their lives than cats can.”

Oh and for you naysayers who think Golden Retrievers aren’t intelligent, for this study the scientists used a brain from a cat, a mixed breed dog, and a Golden Retriever.  Despite the two dog brains being different sizes, the researchers found that both dogs had about double the neurons than the cat.  Herculano-Houzel even went on to say, “we find that the Golden Retriever dog has more cortical neurons than the striped hyena, African lion and even brown bear, even though the latter species have up to 3 times larger cortices than dogs.”  So there you have it folks, Golden Retrievers are not only more intelligent than cats, they are also smarter than the average bear!  Thank you to the team of scientists from six universities in the United States, Brazil, Denmark and South Africa for finally putting this age old debate to rest over who’s smarter dogs or cats, by proving once and for all that dogs rule and cats drool!