University of Alberta neuroscientists have identified what may underlie intelligence in parrots, and potentially provide more insight into the neural basis of human intelligence.
University of Alberta neuroscientists have identified what may underlie intelligence in parrots, and potentially provide more insight into the neural basis of human intelligence.
Using samples from 98 birds from the largest collection of bird brains in the world—everything from chickens and waterfowl to parrots and owls—the team of scientists determined that the structure found exclusively in birds responsible for the transfer of information between the brain’s two largest areas, the cortex and cerebellum, is considerably larger in parrots than any other bird.
“The medial spiriform nucleus (SpM) is actually two to five times larger in parrots than in other birds, like chickens,” said Cristian Gutierrez-Ibanez, a post-doctoral fellow in the U of A’s Department of Psychology.
Doug Wylie, a professor of psychology and co-author on the study, explained that the SpM performs the same function as the pontine nuclei in mammals, although it is located in a different part of the brain.
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Image via University of Alberta.
