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Domestic dog

Canis familiaris

Up to about 600 million cortical neurons, depending on the dog. That's more than cats.

Neurons

1.8 to 2.6 billion, depending on the dog measured · whole brain

Jardim-Messeder D et al. (2017). 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. Front Neuroanat 11:118. doi:10.3389/fnana.2017.00118.

In the cerebral cortex (or bird pallium)

429 to 623 million, depending on the dog

Jardim-Messeder D et al. (2017). 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. Front Neuroanat 11:118. doi:10.3389/fnana.2017.00118.

Evidence

• fMRI scans of awake dogs show reward-related responses in the caudate to trained cues.
  Berns GS, Brooks AM, Spivak M (2012) Functional MRI in awake unrestrained dogs. PLoS ONE 7(5):e38027. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038027.

The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness (2024) finds strong scientific support for conscious experience in mammals and birds.

Assess it against the published criteria