Onur Güntürkün

The evolution of brain and cognition is full of strange twists. Take the following example: Great apes such as chimpanzees have complex cognitive abilities and a brain weighing approximately 400 g, which includes a large neocortex. In comparison, birds such as corvids and parrots have a brain weighing between 3 and 25 g and no neocortex. This should make it impossible for birds to develop high cognitive abilities. However, studies over the past two decades have shown that there is not a single cognitive ability in chimpanzees that has not also been demonstrated in corvids and parrots. And not only that, also the mechanisms of cognition are absolutely the same. How is this possible? This question keeps me awake at night because it challenges fundamental assumptions about the neural basis of complex cognition. I have come to realize that I must travel back to the depths of vertebrate evolution to identify the “hard-to-replace” neural mechanisms of cognition in mammals and birds to find answers. This talk is about that journey.