Brains of a feather - Many Minds
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- Title
- Brains of a feather
- Description
- <p class="p1">Birds do the darnedest things. They fly, of course. They sing. They hunt in pitch darkness. They hide their food and remember where they put it. They use tools and migrate over astonishingly vast distances—sometimes even sleeping while in flight. How do they do all this? What's going on in their brains that makes these and other remarkable behaviors possible? How did their evolutionary path mold them into the incredible creatures they are today?</p> <p class="p1">My guests today are <a href= "https://scholar.ulethbridge.ca/iwaniuk"><span class="s1">Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk</span></a> and <a href= "https://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=3006"><span class= "s1">Dr. Georg Striedter</span></a>. Andrew is a comparative neuroscientist and Associate Professor at the University of Lethbridge in Canada. Georg is a Professor of Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of California, Irvine. Together they are the authors of the new book, <em><a href= "https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262552738/bird-brains-and-behavior/"><span class="s1"> Bird Brains and Behavior: A Synthesis</span></a></em> (available open access <a href= "https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/6000/Bird-Brains-and-BehaviorA-Synthesis"> <span class="s1">here</span></a>).</p> <p class="p1">Here, Georg, Andrew, and I consider the deep history of birds—how they skirted the mass extinction event that felled the dinosaurs, and then radiated out into the 11,000 plus species we know today. We talk about how bird brains differ from those of mammals and reptiles—in terms of their size, but also in terms of their major structures, and in terms of their wrinkliness. We tour some of the most peculiar and perplexing bird behaviors, and consider their neural and anatomical underpinnings. Finally, we consider what we can learn from bird brains, not just about birds but about brains in general—how they evolve, how they get wired up, how they do and do not vary. Along the way we touch on barn owls, hummingbirds, megapodes, mallards, pigeons, parrots, starlings, and underestimated waterfowl; we touch on how birds' brains change with the seasons; the enduring mystery of magnetoreception; the possibility of olfactory maps; the optocollic reflex; the social intelligence hypothesis and the extractive foraging hypothesis; precocial versus altricial bird species; split-body gynandromorphy; and the future of non-invasive work in bird neuroscience.</p> <p class="p1">Season 7 of Many Minds is now gathering steam. We've got some great episodes in the works for you. Just a little reminder that we'd be grateful—thrilled, even—if you could help us get the word out about our show. You might do this by leaving a rating or a review, or by telling a colleague about us. We really appreciate the support, friends!</p> <p class="p1">Without further ado, here's my conversation with Dr. Georg Striedter and Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk. Enjoy!</p> <p class="p2"> </p> <p class="p1"><span style= "text-decoration: underline;"><span class="s2">Notes</span></span></p> <p class="p1">8:00 – For more on the deep history of the brains of birds and other vertebrates, see: Dr. Striedter’s book (co-authored with R. Glenn Northcutt), <em><a href= "https://www.google.com/books/edition/Brains_Through_Time/3ZfFDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=info:FZMJIyLBREsJ:scholar.google.com&pg=PP1&printsec=frontcover"> <span class="s1">Brains Through Time</span></a></em>; this <a href= "https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn1606"><span class= "s1">paper</span></a> authored by Dr. Striedter and colleagues; and <a href= "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0632-1"><span class= "s1">this paper</span></a> authored by Dr. Iwaniuk and colleagues.</p> <p class="p1">9:30 – The <a href= "https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1517131113"><span class= "s1">paper</span></a> on neuron density in birds, by Dr. Pavel Němec and colleagues.</p> <p class="p1">20:00 – For more about Dr. Striedter and colleagues revising some of the terminology for bird brain structures, see <a href= "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC
- Publication Date
- 2025-09-24T23:41:00+00:00
- Status
- completed
- Website
- https://manyminds.libsyn.com/brains-of-a-feather
- Length
- 91:12
- File
- /podcasts/Many Minds/1758757260-5151.mp3
- Size
- 125.26 MB
- Bitrate
- 187-CBR
- Channels
- 1
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