Bird brains are surprisingly complex

(Forschungszentrum Juelich) Some birds can achieve extraordinary cognitive performance - but their brains were considered to be rather disorganized compared to those of mammals. Scientists from Bochum (RUB), Düsseldorf (HHU), Jülich (FZJ), and Aachen (RWTH) now show striking similarities between the neocortex of mammals and sensory brain areas of birds: Both are wired in horizontal layers and vertical columns. The finding refutes 150-year-old assumptions. Decisive insights were provided by a m...