How jackdaws remember what they did where and when

[PhysOrg]

Corvids are capable of cognitive feats that almost resemble those of humans. Neuroscientists at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) intend to find out how their brain manages to fulfill such complex tasks – although its structure is completely different than that of the human brain. For a year, the researchers have been training two jackdaws in a complex behavioural experiment, where the birds learn to remember what they did where and when. The underlying processes in the brain are to be determined through subsequent neurophysiological analyses. An article on the research conducted by the work group Avian Cognitive Neuroscience, headed by Dr. Jonas Rose, has been published in the RUB's science magazine Rubin.

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