Bird neurons only need about a third of the energy of mammalian nerve cells to power their brains. “This helps to explain how birds manage to be so smart, even though their small brains have so many neurons,” says Professor Onur Güntürkün.

His research team, together with colleagues from Cologne, Jülich and Düsseldorf, studied the energy consumption of pigeons’ brains using imaging methods. The researchers present their findings in the journal Current Biology on 8. Septembre 2022.