Scientific studies: birds have the ability to think

Two recently published studies showed that birds have the ability to think, and that their brains function in a way similar to mammalian brains, which could spark more controversy in the scientific community on the issue of animal consciousness.

Corvids and studies of consciousness

In a report published by the Swiss newspaper, Le Temps, dated December 24, writer Sylvie Logan says that birds, especially the corvidae, which include ravens, carrion, magpie, agate and others, have long been known for their ability to use some tools. Solve a number of engineering puzzles, and even predict the near future;

But a recent scientific study showed that birds have much more awareness than we thought.

According to the author, this study, which was published in the journal Science at the end of last September, will revive the heated scientific debate about animal consciousness, and refute the idea that awareness is the preserve of humans and some monkeys and mammals.

The author confirms that scientific studies concerned with the cognitive abilities of animals have increased significantly since 2012, coinciding with the signing of a group of prominent scientists, including physicist Stephen Hawking, the Cambridge Declaration on consciousness.

The scientists signatories to the declaration considered that "humans are not the only ones possessing the neural substrates that produce consciousness," and urged intensified research to better understand animals' cognitive abilities.

Scientists have found activity in crows' neurons (Adrian Bingston-Wikipedia)

Sensory awareness in birds

The author says that this study, conducted by a team from the Department of Animal Physiology at the Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Tubingen, Germany, under the supervision of Dr. Andreas Nieder, is the first of its kind to be conducted on a species other than the primate family, and it is the first to prove the existence of a species From the initial awareness of birds, it has been called sensory awareness or perceptual awareness.

"Corporias not only possess a self-perception of visual stimuli; they can also store and remember those experiences, which is a feature of sensory awareness," says Andreas Nieder.

Scientists have also found activity in crows' nerve cells by placing electrodes in the cerebral cortex, which was also demonstrated by another study published last September in the journal "Science", which was conducted on pigeons and white owls, which are birds that have nearly Two billion neurons, and they have a nerve structure similar to the mammalian cortex.

"The activity of neurons occurs according to a two-stage temporal process. During the first stage, the neural activity mainly reflects the physical intensity of the visual stimulus, while in the second stage we noticed an association between the number of active neurons and the subjective experience of visual perception," Nieder asserts.

The German expert continues, "Consciousness has long been linked to the function of the cerebral cortex in humans and monkeys, something that birds do not possess; but they have developed their own brain structures that allow them to possess complex cognitive abilities that give them conscious perceptions, which means that the cerebral cortex is not a necessary condition for consciousness in all the animals".

These results add a new building block to the theory of consciousness (Bengt Neiman - Wikipedia)

The dilemma of defining consciousness

Lionel Niqash, a neurologist at Petit Salpetriere Hospital, and a researcher in cognitive neuroscience at the Institute of the Brain and Spinal Cord in Paris, believes that these results add a new building block to the theory of consciousness, known as the "global workspace", which was developed 20 years ago by a psychologist. Cognitive neuroscientist, Stanislas DeHaan, and the famous neuroscientist, Jean-Pierre Changeux.

Despite these studies, which prove the existence of a degree of awareness in animals, the author stresses that determining what this awareness is is still a matter of dispute in the scientific and philosophical circles.

In this context, Florence Borga, a French philosopher and research director at the National Institute of Agricultural Research, believes that subjecting birds to tests, and trying to get them to talk, or to perform mathematical operations using devices, does not put them in situations that are consistent with their nature as animals;

It is in harmony with our nature, we humans.

"We thus want to know the nature of its abilities, by searching for the human side in the animal, and by comparing its cognitive abilities with the abilities of children," she added.

According to the author, one of the obstacles that impede scientists to reaching clear conclusions about the nature of perception and consciousness in animals is the difficulty of defining what consciousness itself is, as the term carries many meanings scientifically, philosophically, religiously and morally.