• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

The surprising organization of avian brains

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
September 25, 2020
in Health
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

A research team clears up 150 years of false assumptions

IMAGE

Credit: RUB, Biopsychlogy.

These findings refute 150-year-old assumptions. The team, published its findings in the journal Science from 25. September 2020.

The largest brains

Birds and mammals have the largest brains in relation to their body. Apart from that, however, they have little in common, according to scientific opinion since the 19th century: mammalian brains have a neocortex, i.e. a cerebral cortex that’s made up of six layers and arranged in columns perpendicular to these layers. Avian brains, on the other hand, look like clumps of grey cells.

“Considering the astonishing cognitive performance that birds can achieve, it seemed reasonable to suspect that their brains are more organised than expected,” says Professor Onur Güntürkün, Head of the Biopsychology Research Unit at the RUB Faculty of Psychology. He and his former doctoral students Dr. Martin Stacho and Dr. Christina Herold proved this in several experiments.

Perfected technology facilitates new insights

In the first step, the researchers deployed a new method perfected by the Düsseldorf and Jülich teams: so-called 3D polarized light imaging, or 3D PLI for short, is capable of displaying the orientation of individual nerve fibres. To the researchers’ surprise, an analysis of the brains of various birds revealed an organisation that is similar to that in the mammalian brain: here too, the fibres are arranged horizontally and vertically in the same way as in the neocortex.

In further experiments, the researchers used tiny crystals, which are absorbed by nerve cells in brain slices and transport them to their smallest dendrites, to examine the interconnection of cells in the bird brain in detail. “Here, too, the structure was shown to consist of columns, in which signals are transmitted from top to bottom and vice versa, and long horizontal fibres,” explains Onur Güntürkün. However, this structure is only found in the sensory areas of the avian brain. Other areas, such as associative areas, are organised in a different way.

Amazing cognitive performance

Some birds are capable of astonishing cognitive performances to rival those of higher developed mammals such as primates. For example, ravens recognise themselves in the mirror and plan for the future. They are also able to put themselves in the position of others, recognise causalities and draw conclusions. Pigeons can learn English spelling up to the level of six-year-old children.

###

Funding

The study was funded by the German Research Foundation as part of Collaborative Research Centres 1280 (project no. A01 316803389) and 1372 (project no. Neu04 395940726). Additional funding was supplied by the European Union under the umbrella of the Horizon 2020 Programme (project no. 785907 and 945539).

Original publication

Martin Stacho, Christina Herold, Noemi Rook, Hermann Wagner, Markus Axer, Katrin Amunts, Onur Gu?ntu?rku?n: A cortex-like canonical circuit in the avian forebrain, in: Science, 2020, DOI: 10.1126/science.abc5534

Press contact

Dr. Martin Stacho

Department of Neurophysiology

Faculty of Medicine

Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Germany

Phone: +49 234 32 22042

Email: [email protected]

Prof. Dr. Onur Güntürkün

Biopsychology Research Unit

Faculty of Psychology

Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Germany

Phone: +49 234 32 26213

Email: [email protected]

Media Contact
Prof. Dr. Onur Güntürkün
[email protected]

Original Source

https://news.rub.de/english/press-releases/2020-09-25-neuroscience-surprising-organisation-avian-brains

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abc5534

Tags: BiologyPhysiologyZoology/Veterinary Science
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Clinician Concerns: Navigating Opioid Management eConsults

September 3, 2025

Prototyping: Enhancing Understanding and Engagement Early

September 3, 2025

Anxiety and Reassurance in Urban Chinese Seniors

September 3, 2025

COVID-19’s Effect on ART Outcomes: Multicenter Study

September 3, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Needlestick Injury Rates in Nurses and Students in Pakistan

    296 shares
    Share 118 Tweet 74
  • Breakthrough in Computer Hardware Advances Solves Complex Optimization Challenges

    154 shares
    Share 62 Tweet 39
  • Molecules in Focus: Capturing the Timeless Dance of Particles

    143 shares
    Share 57 Tweet 36
  • New Drug Formulation Transforms Intravenous Treatments into Rapid Injections

    118 shares
    Share 47 Tweet 30

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Clinician Concerns: Navigating Opioid Management eConsults

Prototyping: Enhancing Understanding and Engagement Early

Anxiety and Reassurance in Urban Chinese Seniors

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.