Bird Brained: Human and Pigeon Brains Wired Similarly

Humans may be a bit bird brained--sort of. Scientists have recently discovered that humans and birds have brains that are wired in similar ways, showing that we may share a little bit more in common than we thought with our feathered companions.

In previous studies, birds have demonstrated a range of skills. They've shown a capacity for complex social reasoning, the ability to solve problems and have even demonstrated the capability to craft and use tools. In fact, a recent study revealed that cockatoos can pick apart a puzzle that requires them to unlock several different "doors" in order to receive a treat.

In order to examine the bird brain a bit more closely and compare it to mammals, researchers first developed a map of a typical bird brain. In order to construct it, they analyzed 34 studies of the anatomy of the pigeon brain, which is typical for a bird. More specifically, they focused on areas called "hub nodes," which are regions of the brain that are major centers for processing information and are important for high level cognition. They also examined the hippocampus, which is important for navigation and long-term memory in both birds and mammals.

After developing this model, the researchers then compared it to brain diagrams for different mammals, such as humans. They found that the hub nodes had very dense connections to other parts of the brain in both kinds of animal, suggesting they function in a similar way. They also compared the prefrontal cortex in mammals, which is important for complex thought such as decision making, with the nidopallium caudolaterale, which has a similar role in birds.

"Birds have been evolving separately from mammals for around 300 million years, so it is hardly surprising that under a microscope the brain of a bird looks quite different from a mammal," said Murray Shanahan, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Yet birds have been shown to be remarkably intelligent in a similar way to mammals such as humans and monkeys. Our study demonstrates that by looking at brains that are least like our own, yet still capable of generating intelligent behavior, we can determine the basic principles governing the way brains work."

The findings have revealed a little bit more about how bird brains and mammal brains work, and show that they're more similar than we might have expected. The new research could eventually be used to build computer models that employ the same "wiring" that these biological species use; currently, the scientists hope to use it to eventually control a robot.

The paper is published in the journal Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience.