Structures of bird brains and their relationship to cognitive capacity, metabolic costs and limitations to brain growth

该项目代表了对大脑结构、大脑代谢和认知之间关系建立新观点的尝试。同时，这项研究是Suzana Herculano-Houzel（巴西里约热内卢）和Onur Güntürkün（波鸿;德国）实验室之间密切合作的产物。你刚才读到的联合申请类似于苏珊娜·赫库兰诺-胡泽尔同时提交的FAPERJ（里约热内卢州研究基金会）申请。除了格式上的一些差异外，此处所述的巴西和德国提案在内容方面的唯一差异是对计划进行的实验的说明的长度。对于DFG的应用，仅提供了计划在巴西进行的实验的简短版本，而计划在波鸿进行的研究则进行了详细描述。总之，我们计划在波鸿估计的绝对和相对大小以及神经元数量的尾侧巢（Nidopallium caudolaterale，NCL）在五种不同的鸟类。NCL是前额叶皮层的功能类似物，并在鸟类中维持执行功能。所选的五种鸟类是鸟类的代表，我们对它们的认知能力有部分详细的了解。在第二项研究中，我们计划首次测量这五个物种的大脑代谢率。由于鸟类具有特殊的认知技能和高神经元密度，但大脑非常小，因此它们的大脑可能具有每单位体积极高的代谢神经需求的特征。本研究的这两个发现可以代表关键的基石理论的部分不同路径的进化，在鸟类的大脑和认知，相对于哺乳动物。

This project represents an attempt to establish a new view on the relationship between brain structure, brain metabolism, and cognition. At the same time, this study is a product of an intense collaboration between the labs of Suzana Herculano-Houzel (Rio de Janeiro; Brazil) and Onur Güntürkün (Bochum; Germany). The joint application that you just read is similar to the application to FAPERJ (Research Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro) that is submitted in parallel by Suzana Herculano-Houzel. With the exception of some differences in format, the only content-related differences of the Brazilian and the German proposal as presented here, concern the length of the description of the planned experiments. For the application to the DFG, the experiments planned in Brazil are provided in a shortened version only, while the studies planned for Bochum are described in detail. In short, we plan in Bochum to estimate the absolute and the relative size as well as the neuron numbers of the Nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) in five different bird species. The NCL is the functional analogue to the prefrontal cortex and subserves executive functions in birds. The five bird species chosen are representatives of bird orders of which we have partly detailed knowledge on their cognitive abilities. In a second study, we plan to measure for the first time the brain metabolic rate in these five species. Since birds have exceptional cognitive skills and high neuronal densities, but very small brains, it is possible that their brains are characterized by extremely high metabolic neural demands per unit volume. Both findings of the present study could represent critical cornerstones for theories on the partly different paths of the evolution of brain and cognition in birds, relative to mammals.