Crows Outperform Humans in Decision-Making Speed, Study Finds

A recent study conducted in Germany has revealed that crows exhibit remarkable speed and accuracy in decision-making, surpassing both humans and primates in certain cognitive tests. Researchers found that these birds can process visual information and make choices at a pace that outstrips their mammalian counterparts.

Andreas Nieder, a co-author of the study and an animal physiologist at the University of Tübingen, stated that the crows involved in the experiment operated "in the fast lane." The research, published in a university statement, highlighted that this level of cognitive performance is achieved despite the crows' comparatively small brains.

Previous studies have already established the intelligence of corvids, the family of birds that includes crows, ravens, and jays. Ravens have demonstrated the ability to plan for the future, and carrion crows have shown proficiency in using tools. However, this latest research suggests that in some specific cognitive tasks, their decision-making speed may exceed human capabilities.

The experiment involved two male carrion crows, Iggy and Lenny, who were presented with a visual task on a touch monitor. They were shown a cluster of dots, with some moving in a specific direction and others acting as decoys. The crows had to quickly peck the left or right side of the screen to indicate the trajectory of the moving dots. Correct identifications were rewarded with mealworms.

To gather reliable data, the crows performed the task thousands of times. The results showed that the birds made decisions in an average of approximately 235 milliseconds, which is roughly twice as fast as the times recorded for humans and monkeys in similar tests. Crucially, this speed did not come at the expense of accuracy; the crows correctly identified the dot movements with high precision, particularly when the patterns were clear.

To understand the neurological basis for this rapid decision-making, researchers recorded activity from 248 neurons in the nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL), the region of the bird's brain analogous to the prefrontal cortex in primates. Using this data, scientists were able to predict the crows' decisions as early as 70 milliseconds after the dots appeared, approximately 170 milliseconds before the birds made their physical response.

These findings suggest that complex computations necessary for sophisticated decision-making can be performed by brains that do not possess a mammalian neocortex. Nieder commented that "the bigger implication is that a brain does not need a mammalian neocortex to perform sophisticated computations."

Experts theorize that crows' exceptional speed in visual processing and decision-making may be an evolutionary adaptation to their demanding lifestyle. Rapid judgments are essential for navigating the complexities of flight, foraging, and evading predators in their environment, where quick reactions can be a matter of survival.