Moreover, says neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel, who led the research, in the brains of parrots and songbirds, most of the “extra” neurons occur in the pallium region of the forebrain, the part of the bird brain that corresponds to our cerebral cortex and is typically associated with intelligent behavior. In fact, big parrots like macaws and cockatoos, as well as corvids such as ravens and crows, have higher neuron counts in the forebrain than do monkeys with much larger brains—in some cases, twice as many neurons, with more connections between them—which explains why these birds are
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