Cat intelligence
The brain of the domesticated cat is about long, and weighs . If a typical cat is taken to be long with a weight of , then the brain would be at 0.91% of its total body mass, compared to 2.33% of total body mass in the average human. Within the encephalization quotient proposed by Jerison in 1973, values above 1 are classified big brained, while values lower than 1 are small brained. The domestic cat is attributed a value of between 1–1.71 relative to human value that is 7.44–7.8. The largest brains in the Felidae family are those of the tigers in Java and Bali, of which the largest relative brain size within the "panthera" is the "tigris". It is debated whether there exists a causal relationship between brain size and intelligence in vertebrates. Correlations have been shown between these factors in a number of experiments. However, correlation does not imply causation. Most experiments involving the relevance of brain size to intelligence hinge on the assumption that complex behavior requires a complex (and therefore intelligent) brain; however, this connection has not been consistently demonstrated.
Sex differences in psychology
Structurally adult male brains are on average 11–12% heavier and 10% bigger than female brains. Despite this, because of relative difference in body size the brain-to-body mass ratio does not differ between the sexes.Other studies have stated bigger male brain size can only be partly accounted by body size. Researchers also found greater cortical thickness and cortical complexity in females and greater female cortical surface area after adjusting for brain volumes. Given that cortical complexity and cortical features are positively correlated with intelligence, researchers postulated that these differences might have evolved for females to compensate for smaller brain size and equalize overall cognitive abilities with males. Women have a greater developed neuropil or the space between neurons, which contains synapses, dendrites and axons and the cortex has neurons packed more closely together in the temporal and prefrontal cortex. Females also have greater cortical thickness in posterior temporal and inferior parietal regions compared to males independent of differences in brain or body size.