<p class="title">Not only human beings but even pigeons can discriminate the abstract concepts of space and time, according to a study.</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, they seem to use a different region of the brain than humans and primates to do so.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The finding, published in the journal Current Biology, adds to growing recognition in the scientific community that lower-order animal species such as birds, reptiles, and fish are capable of high-level, abstract decision-making.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Indeed, the cognitive prowess of birds is now deemed to be ever closer to that of both human and non-human primates," said Edward Wasserman, from the University of Iowa in the US.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Those avian nervous systems are capable of far greater achievements than the pejorative term 'bird brain' would suggest," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Humans are able to perceive space and time, even without the aid of inventions such as a watch or a ruler.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The region of the brain that helps humans make those abstract concepts more tangible is the parietal cortex, part of the cerebral cortex and the outermost layer of the brain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The cerebral cortex is known to be a locus of higher thought processes, including speech and decision-making.</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, the pigeon brain does not have a parietal cortex, or at least one developed enough to be distinct. So, the birds must employ another area of the brain to discriminate between space and time.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Pigeons were put through a series of tasks called the "common magnitude" test.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The birds were shown on a computer screen a horizontal line either 6 cm or 24 cm long for either 2 seconds or 8 seconds.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The researchers said the results show pigeons process space and time in ways similar to humans and other primates.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The cortex is not unique to judging space and time," said Benjamin De Corte, from the University of Iowa.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The pigeons have other brain systems that allow them to perceive these dimensions," he said. </p>
<p class="title">Not only human beings but even pigeons can discriminate the abstract concepts of space and time, according to a study.</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, they seem to use a different region of the brain than humans and primates to do so.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The finding, published in the journal Current Biology, adds to growing recognition in the scientific community that lower-order animal species such as birds, reptiles, and fish are capable of high-level, abstract decision-making.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Indeed, the cognitive prowess of birds is now deemed to be ever closer to that of both human and non-human primates," said Edward Wasserman, from the University of Iowa in the US.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Those avian nervous systems are capable of far greater achievements than the pejorative term 'bird brain' would suggest," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Humans are able to perceive space and time, even without the aid of inventions such as a watch or a ruler.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The region of the brain that helps humans make those abstract concepts more tangible is the parietal cortex, part of the cerebral cortex and the outermost layer of the brain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The cerebral cortex is known to be a locus of higher thought processes, including speech and decision-making.</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, the pigeon brain does not have a parietal cortex, or at least one developed enough to be distinct. So, the birds must employ another area of the brain to discriminate between space and time.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Pigeons were put through a series of tasks called the "common magnitude" test.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The birds were shown on a computer screen a horizontal line either 6 cm or 24 cm long for either 2 seconds or 8 seconds.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The researchers said the results show pigeons process space and time in ways similar to humans and other primates.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The cortex is not unique to judging space and time," said Benjamin De Corte, from the University of Iowa.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The pigeons have other brain systems that allow them to perceive these dimensions," he said. </p>