Crows make visual decisions twice as fast as humans, study finds
Research from the University of Tübingen shows carrion crows identify moving patterns in 235 milliseconds with high accuracy.
Researchers at the University of Tübingen have found that crows can process visual information and make choices at double the speed of monkeys and humans, according to BusinessLine. In experiments involving two carrion crows, the birds averaged just 235 milliseconds to identify the direction of moving dots and respond to the stimulus.
To test these abilities, scientists presented the birds with moving dots on a touchscreen. The crows had to determine if the dots were moving left or right and peck a target on the corresponding side. Philipp Schmidbauer, a researcher at the University of Tübingen’s Institute of Neurobiology, reported that the birds achieved nearly 100 per cent accuracy with clear signals.
The study, published in the journal Science, involved recording neural activity in the nidopallium caudolaterale, a brain region similar to the human prefrontal cortex. Data showed that the crows' brains began distinguishing between directions just 70 milliseconds after the dots appeared.
Professor Andreas Nieder, also from the University of Tübingen, stated that these findings show neuronal dynamics in avian brains are consistent with decision-making models in humans and non-human primates. He noted that birds rely on vision for rapid maneuvers during flight and foraging.
While the crows use different brain structures than mammals, they appear to follow similar fundamental principles for evaluating evidence. Researchers noted that further studies are required to understand the exact biological mechanisms behind this speed advantage.