There is no denying that dementia is a scary and daunting disease. Otherwise known as senility, dementia causes the afflicted to lose the ability to think and remember even the most basic activities. The disease is long term and gradual.
Dementia has been mentioned in medical texts since ancient times. However it wasn't until the 1920s when the term dementia was definitively defined as "permanent, irreversible mental deterioration." Since then a cure for the malady has been the number one goal for some researchers in the field. While there have been ample research on Dementia, finding a cure has remained futile. Fortunately, researchers from the University of Edinburg and London School of Economics have developed a test that might be able to shed light on the dreaded disease.
In a recently published paper on the journal "Intelligence", academics from the LSE and University of Edinburg claimed that they have developed a test that can measure the IQ of dogs. The researchers assessed the intelligence of 68 collies in order to come up with the test. The results of their research showed that dogs that excelled in one part of the test tend to also do well in other parts.
The study is important in Dementia research since the intelligence of dogs are similar to that of humans. Dogs also seem to be one of the few species to mimic symptoms of dementia. Moreover, dogs have no experience with alcohol, smoking, drugs, education and socio-economic status, making it easier to gauge the link between natural intelligence and health.
"So if, as our research suggests, dog intelligence is structured similarly to ours, studying a species that doesn't smoke, drink, use recreational drugs and does not have large differences in education and income, may help us understand this link between intelligence and health better" explained Dr. Rosalind Arden, co-author of the research.