For more than a century, the avian forebrain has been a riddle for neuroscientists. Birds demonstrate exceptional cognitive abilities comparable to those of mammals, but their forebrain organization is radically different. Whereas mammalian cognition emerges from the canonical circuits of the six-layered neocortex, the avian forebrain seems to display a simple nuclear organization. Now, a new study headed by biopsychologists from Bochum, reveals a hitherto unknown neuroarchitecture of the avian sensory forebrain that is composed of iteratively organized cortex-like canonical circuits. This finding suggests that today’s birds and mammals use a partly modified ancient microcircuit of their last common ancestor. The avian version of this connectivity blueprint could conceivably generate computational properties akin to neocortex and would thus provide a neurobiological explanation for the comparable and outstanding perceptual and cognitive feats of both taxa.

Stacho, M., Herold, C., Rook, N., Wagner, H., Axer, M., Amunts, K., Güntürkün, O., A cortex-like canonical circuit in the avian forebrain, Science, 2020, 369: eabc5534, DOI: 10.1126/science.abc5534.