Crows often look calm as they watch the world. But their brains may make some visual choices very quickly.
In a recent study, scientists trained two crows to watch moving dots. The dots appeared on a screen. Most dots moved left or right. Each crow had to choose the main direction. It showed its answer by touching one side with its beak.
The crows chose in about 235 milliseconds on average. A millisecond is a very short unit of time. In this test, they were about twice as fast as humans and monkeys. They also gave many correct answers. This does not mean crows beat humans at every decision. It only shows their great speed in this visual task. (uni-tuebingen.de)
The scientists also watched signals inside the birds’ brains. A neuron is a tiny brain cell that carries information. Groups of neurons collected information from the moving dots. Their activity grew until the crow made its choice. This process was like decision-making in human brains. However, it happened much faster in the test. (uni-tuebingen.de)
Why are crows so quick? Fast choices may help birds fly and find food. Scientists still need more research to know the exact reason.










