A study looking at the brain size of different breeds relative to their skulls reveals that big brains doesn't mean smarter dogs.  The research, publi

Smarter dogs have smaller brains, surprising study reveals

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2024-11-14 13:30:02

A study looking at the brain size of different breeds relative to their skulls reveals that big brains doesn't mean smarter dogs.

The research, published Nov. 13 in the journal Biology Letters, suggests that while working dogs may have more complex abilities compared with other breeds, they're organized into a more compact space in the brain. This differs from what's seen in evolutionary history in wild mammals, where as brains get bigger relative to body size, cognitive skills tend to become more complex.

"In other groups [of species] relative brain size is indicative of higher cognitive abilities — here we see the opposite," said Ana Balcarcel, lead author of the new study and an evolutionary biologist at the Montpellier Institute of Evolutionary Sciences in France.

The study compared the ratios of dogs' brain size to body size by measuring 1,682 skulls of adult dogs covering 172 breeds housed at the Natural History Museum Bern in Switzerland. The researchers calculated the dogs' "relative endocranial volume" — their brain size relative to their body size. Scores for 14 behavioral traits were also taken from the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire, a standardized behavioral evaluation of dog breeds that measures trainability, attention-seeking behaviors, aggression and other traits.

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