Are we humans simply remodelled apes? Chimps with a tweak? Is the difference between our genomes so minuscule it justifies the argument that our cognition and behaviour must also differ from chimps by barely a whisker? If “chimps are us” should we grant them human rights? Or is this one of the biggest fallacies in the study of evolution? NOT A CHIMP argues that these similarities have been grossly over-exaggerated - we should keep chimps at arm’s length. Are humans cognitively unique after all?
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Birds And Mammals Share A Common Brain Circuit For Learning
In my chapter CLEVER CORVIDS I point out that recent research comparing avian and mammalian brains has demonstrated that parts of both are derived from the same embryonic structures, which suggests that bird brains are not "bird-brains" after all. Here research on neurons in a part of the basal ganglia of the zebra finch - so-called area X which is involved in the learning of song - bear strong comparison to neural structures in the corresponding part of mammalian brains - the striatum and globus pallidus. As the scientists concerned are quoted saying: "Our results strongly suggest that the same brain circuits underlie learning in birds and mammals, despite the superficial differences in anatomy".
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