Introducing the brain: bird brains' similar neurons (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, May 17, 2021, 15:45 (1284 days ago) @ David Turell

Same type of neuron in mammals and birds:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210513142358.htm

"The research, published May 13 in Current Biology, advances insight into the fundamental operation of complex brain circuits. It suggests that ancient cell types in the pallium -- the outer regions of the brain that include cortex -- most likely retained features over millions of years that are the building blocks for advanced cognition in birds and mammals.

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"The team targeted excitatory vs. inhibitory neurons (using CaMKII? and GAD1 promoters, respectively) in the zebra finch auditory pallium to test predictions based on the mammalian pallium.

"'There's so much work out there on the physiology of these different cell types in the mammalian cortex that we were able to line up a series of predictions about what features birds may or may not have," Spool says.

"The CaMKII? and GAD1 populations in the songbird were distinct "in exactly the proportions you would expect from the mammalian brain," Spool says. With the cell type populations isolated, the researchers then examined systematically whether each population would correspond to the physiology of their mammalian counterparts.

"'As we kept moving forward, again and again these cell populations were acting as if they were essentially from the mammalian cortex in a lot of physiological ways," Spool says.

"Remage-Healey adds, "The correspondence between the cortex in mammals and what we're pulling out with molecularly identified cell types in birds is pretty striking."

"In both birds and mammals, these neurons are thought to support advanced cognitive functions, such as memory, individual recognition and associative learning, Spool says."

Comment: This study shows the key factor in common descent in evolution: what is developed and works well in the past carries into the future evolving forms. The process of evolution is a continuum.