The intelligence of birds is underestimated on the faux assumption that the intelligence of a species can be determined based on their brains` size. The expression “bird brain” might change its meaning in the light of the new studies published about birds cognition power.
There is no need to explain further that there is no link between a species intelligence and the size if its brain. This logic would make large animals such as the elephant seem more intelligent than the human beings. And also, it would not explain at all the cognitive skills of some very small animals, birds included as well.
Scientists decided to ignore all preconceived notions and, despite the fact that the intelligence of birds is underestimated, they studied this topic thoroughly in order to uncover the mystery behind it.
Published in the scientific journal of the National Academy of Sciences, the paper co-authored by Suzana Herculano-Houzel, a neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University (Tennessee), discovered that the avian pallium contains many more neurons that it was initially assumed. To everybody`s surprise, the density of the neurons in this region of the brain is much higher compared to the density of the neurons in mammals` brain.
Also, birds found an alternative neuronal structure that allows them to processes information without unnecessarily increasing the size of a neuron. Typically, the size of a neuron matters because it needs to sustain as many long-distance connections as possible.
However, nature developed the neuronal connections in birds` brain differently. Instead of increasing the size of each cell, there is a high density of small cells that connect to each other. Only a few neurons are allowed to grow beyond the average sizes so that they could establish long distance connections.
Contradicting the assumption that intelligence is directly linked to the size of the neurons and the number of connections each neuron makes with its neighbors, the neuroscientists working on this project managed to deconstruct a preconceived notion.
To correctly evaluate the cognitive skills of birds, more than 20 different species were dissected for this study. Neuroscientists used a technique called isotropic fractionation. This method enabled researchers to make an accurate quantification of the number of neurons in a brain tissue and to reach the conclusion that the intelligence of birds is underestimated.
Image source: Wikipedia