London London School of Economics

A London university has developed an IQ test for dogs that could pave the way for breakthroughs in our understanding of the links between intelligence and health.

The London School of Economics, along with Edinburgh University, has discovered that dog intelligence functions in a similar way to human intelligence.

Recent studies have shown smarter people tend to live longer.

If scientists can prove this is the same in dogs then they can use them to study long-term health problems such as dementia.

Dr Rosalind Arden, a research associate at the LSE said: "We asked the question, if a dog is good at one test does it tend to be better than average at the other test? And we found that yes that's true.

This is the first step in trying to develop a really snappy, reliable dog IQ test, and that has got implications that aren't obvious at first."

Sixty eight border collies were given a series of cognitive tasks, including finding their way to food behind a barrier and learning to choose a bigger portion of food.

A team of scientists from the London School of Economics have been asked to carry out the world's biggest investigation into the effect of mobile phones on children by the Government.

It will focus on mental functions such as memory and attention as they develop in around 2,500 children.

The National Health Service could be saving millions of pounds each year by investing in early intervention services for people with mental illnesses, according to a new report from the London School of Economics.

The report by LSE and the charity Rethink Mental Illness revealed that for every £1 spent on intervention treatments for people with psychosis and schizophrenia, the NHS could save £15 on expensive hospital care later on.

It claims that "too much" of the current budget to treat psychosis is spent on expensive inpatient care, rather than on community care which could stop people from getting seriously unwell in the first place.

A number of the UK's leading universities are sliding down international rankings, jeopardising their reputations as some of the best places in the world to study for a degree, according to research.

The UK has 10 entrants in the Times Higher World Reputation Rankings this year, up one from 2013, but down from three years ago when there were 12 in the top 100.

Besides Oxford and Cambridge, these were Imperial College London (13th), the London School of Economics (24th), University College London (25th) and King's College London (43rd), as well as the London Business School and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The chief executive of Universities UK, Nicola Dandridge, said they are "concerned about the methods used" in the making of the BBC Panorama programme, after an academic trip with LSE students was used to gain entry to North Korea.

Ms Dandridge said universities must be able to work with integrity and operate in sensitive areas of the world.

"The UK's academics have a global reputation, and it is vitally important that they can be trusted and seen to be working in an open and transparent manner", she said.

"The way that this BBC investigation was conducted might not only have put students' safety at risk, but may also have damaged our universities' reputations overseas", Ms Dandridge continued.

"We regret the BBC's approach in this matter. Universities UK will be seeking to discuss this with the BBC to ensure they fully understand the concerns of the university sector".

The head of the LSE student union has attacked the BBC accusing it of organising a student trip to North Korea "potentially as a ruse for them to get into North Korea".

Alex Peters-Day told BBC News: "We don't know what could have happened to those students [if it had been discovered that were accompanying BBC journalists] and crucially neither does the BBC".

She called on the BBC to pull the programme, which is due to air on Monday, and also demanded a full apology.

Read: BBC denies claim that students were put at risk