Ravens recognise themselves in a mirror, and these birds are known to even plan for the future. Studies have shown that pigeons can be taught to recognise English words and can learn spellings.
Now, another study (Science, September 2020) shows that birds have a more organised brain than previously thought. The cognitive skills of mammals are related to the cerebral cortex. But birds don’t have this cerebral cortex, they have a region called the pallium, and studies on this region have now revealed new information on its architecture.
Using a special technique called 3D polarised light imaging, the team studied the orientation of individual nerve fibres. They studied the brains of 42 homing pigeons, nine barn owls, a rat, a vervet monkey and one human. They found that the brains of the birds had an organisation similar to that seen in mammalian brains. The fibres were seen to be arranged horizontally and vertically, just like how they are arranged in the neocortex region of the mammal brain. They conducted another study to examine the interconnection of cells in the sensory areas of bird brain and found connections similar to mammal brains.
According to the team of researchers led by Martin Stacho from Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany, there is a possibility that both mammals and birds independently developed similar microcircuits by means of convergent or parallel evolution. The study addresses how mammals and birds perform such similar perceptual and cognitive feats.
Source: The Hindu, 7/11/20
