American crows that excel at tool use activate neural circuits distinct from less talented individuals

Tools enable animals to exploit new resources, but the neural circuits underlying tool use and how activity varies with proficiency are well known only in humans and some primates. Using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), the authors imaged brain activity in naïve versus trained American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) while presenting a task requiring stone-tool use (Aesop’s fable paradigm). As in humans, talent affected the neural circuits engaged during task preparation. Naïve and less proficient crows activated circuits associated with sensory and higher-order processing (insula and nidopallium), whereas highly proficient individuals showed increased activity in circuits associated with motor learning and task control (hippocampus, tegmentum, nucleus basalis, and cerebellum). Greater proficiency was found in adult females and may reflect their need to employ more cognitively complex strategies to access food.

LomaJohn T. Pendergraft, John M. Marzluff, Donna J. Cross, Toru Shimizu, Christopher N. Templeton