TübingenCrows decided in 235 milliseconds, monkeys in 410 to 600.
Crows accumulate evidence like primates despite brains with no layered cortex.
Researchers recorded 248 neurons in the crows’ nidopallium caudolaterale, and 58 signalled the coming choice 70 milliseconds after the dots appeared.
The study tested only 2 crows, neurobiologist Andreas Nieder acknowledged.
No one has tested whether other birds match them, because few can be trained on the task.
How each outlet framed it
- Ars Technica
- ties avian decision-making to the compact nervous system, showing crows solve the random-dot task with the same math as primates but twice as fast
Sources: Ars Technica