AW: Bird brains more like mammals

[evelyn sobielski <koreke77@yahoo.de>]

> At least in this structural context:
>  
> http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/06/22/1006645107

*Quite* interesting, considering that highly similar tissues are produced by 
rather dissimilar parts of the brain. It's like some organism evolving 
stomach-lining tissue in its duodenum while its stomach does not develop much.

See also http://www.avianbrain.org/new_terminology.html, namely:
http://www.avianbrain.org/birds_hi_res_1.gif

The "Classic view" is strictly anatomical (identical colors denote identical 
evolutionary origin), while the "Modern view" is strictly functional (identical 
colors denote analogous functions).

The follow-up research of this study will be very interesting. But as long as 
"intelligence research" in psychology does not rid itself from its basically 
teleological underpinnings (someone like Arthur Jensen, who is a bigshot in the 
field, still subscribes to the pre-Darwinian "invertebrates-lower 
vertebrates-mammals-primates-humans" hierarchy), and starts to adopt sound 
scientific principles, rather than phantasizing about a "g factor" that is more 
heritable than genetics allows yet manages to increase despite no significant 
change in gene pool or mutation rate, or "multiple intelligences" that are 
entirely unsupported by empirical research, the effort will have little 
practical consequence. On the other hand, it looks like cyberneticists will 
have a field day with such studies.


Regards,

Eike