There’s now scientific proof that dogs are smarter than cats

facebooktwitterreddit

Are dogs or cats smarter? We’ve all had this fight. But a new study is ending the debate once and for all. And it’s dogs, obviously.

It’s the age-old question that has divided families for generations and generations. Are dogs or cats smarter? Dogs, obviously. And now there’s scientific proof.

It’s a tough debate. Cats always seem like an intellectual species. They always know what’s going on. But dogs can be trained more easily; they can have jobs, know languages, and follow commands.

Now, a team of international scientists is putting an end to the debate and we can finally have peace. According to a study, as reported by Teen Vogue, the team looked at the outer layers of the brain in different carnivorous animals, including dogs and cats, for a 2017 study.

The team wanted to research whether animals that hunt have more cortical neurons. They then looked at which species had certain types of cells to show how much “processing power” their brains had. While doing their research, they came across how many neurons dogs and cats have.

And what do you know? Dog brains have more neurons than cat brains, arguably meaning that dogs are smarter than cats. Dogs had 530 million neurons, which is more than double cats’ 250 million neurons.

“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,” Suzana Herculano-Houzal, an Associate Professor of Psychology and Biological Sciences, said in an interview.

She continued by saying: “I’m 100 percent a dog person, but, with that disclaimer, our findings mean to me that dogs have the biological capability of doing much more complex and flexible things with their lives than cats can. At the least, we now have some biology that people can factor into their discussions about who’s smarter, cats or dogs.”

Next: MPR raccoon is the hero we didn’t know we needed

So, there you have it: Scientific proof that your dog is better than your cat. I’ll just have to remind my pup she’s supposed to be smart the next time I catch her eating dirt.