Dogs are smarter than cats

There are those who are more cats. There are those who are more dogs. And between the two is sometimes a little war. A war that could well be revived by an American study which says that dogs are smarter than cats!

Judging intelligence . This seems not so easy this ability is diverse. And whether comparing men and animals. However, researchers from the Vanderbilt University (United States) now say that dogs are smarter than cats. The news may well put the fire to the powder of the small war that led fans of cats and love of dogs .
In reaching this conclusion, US researchers simply counted the number of neurons forming the cerebral cortex of dogs, cats and other species of carnivores . Why ? Because the cortex brain - and the little gray cells it contains - is the seat of thought, planning and other complex behaviors.

530 million cortical neurons for the dog, 250 million for the chat!
Result: no less than 530 million neurons Cortical for the dog - against more than 16 billion humans, anyway - and only 250 million in the chat! For US researchers, the numbers speak for themselves. "The absolute number of neurons in the cerebral cortex determines the richness of the mental state of the animal and its ability to predict what will happen in its environment" , assures Suzana Herculano-Houzel, professor of psychology and biological sciences at Vanderbilt University.

In this illustration, the brains of six carnivorous studied by researchers at Vanderbilt University. Note that of the bear, for example, is ten times bigger than the cat. Yet it contains as many cortical neurons.
© Suzana Herculano-Houzel, Vanderbilt University .
A full study of surprises
So if the dog is smarter than the cat, what about their wild cousins? The majority opinion is that the brains of pets are smaller. But the study of American researchers shows otherwise. The brain of a golden retriever has many more neurons than that of a hyena.

Another surprise: the brains of carnivores are better endowed with neurons than those of herbivores on which they feed. The hunt yet, seems a more cognitively demanding activity that chatter. But most brain contains neurons, it becomes more intensive energy . And the great hunters know well, their diet can be extremely intermittent. What, think US researchers limit their brain development.
If a palm is to be awarded is ... the raccoon she will return. "The brain raccoon appears relatively small. But the density of neurons is equivalent to that of a primate  " , is astonished Professor Herculano-Houzel.