|
Plain little chickadee ain't no bird brain |
|
November 21, 2017 |
 |
By Todd Peterson and Frances Wood
National
Audubon Society
You commonly see them flitting about, the small,
perky black and gray birds with the black hat
and bib. A bird almost universally considered
“cute” thanks to its oversized round head, tiny
body, and curiosity about everything, including
humans. Quick to find the bird feeders we love
to set out, the black-capped chickadee is one of
the first birds many of us become familiar with.
And as seemingly dainty as they are, these
little charmers don't migrate -- they remain
active and alert even in the coldest, most
fierce winter weather. And scientists are
finding out that these remarkable little
creatures ain't just another bird brain!
The brains of chickadees grow in the late summer
and early fall. At this time of year the birds
cache food, usually seeds, throughout their home
range. Come winter, they need to be able to find
what they’ve stashed.
The growing part of the brain is the
hippocampus, which plays an important role in
spatial memory.
Dr. Fernando Nottebohm of Rockefeller University
in New York studies the growth of neurons in the
brains of birds. He focused on the remarkable
ability of black-capped chickadees to recall the
locations of hundreds of stored seeds.
His lab produced the first evidence that in the
adult brain of birds neurons are replaced
periodically, with the learning of new
behaviors.
Dr. Nottebohm suggests that as demand for memory
space peaks, chickadees discard cells that hold
old memories and replace them with new cells
that store fresh memories.
Studying the ability of a bird’s brain to
generate new neurons might uncover ways to
replace brain cells lost due to injury, stroke
or degeneration, as happens in diseases such as
Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and Alzheimers.
Perhaps we should reconsider how we use the term
“bird brain!" |
|
Questions or comments about this
article?
Click here to e-mail! |
|
|
|
|
