Virtual Lecture by Andreas Nieder: Sensory Consciousness in a Bird Brain

The evolution of our sensory consciousness – the awareness and ability to report our subjective experiences about stimuli - is one of the greatest riddles in biology. Traditionally, a layered cerebral cortex – found only in primates and other mammals – is thought to be a prerequisite for the emergence of consciousness. Some birds, such as members of the crow family, also show sophisticated cognitive behaviors suggesting conscious experiences. However, in contrast to mammals, birds have evolved radically different brain structures without a cerebral cortex since they diverged from the primate lineage 320 million years ago. To address the question of consciousness without a cerebral cortex, we trained crows to detect ambiguous visual stimuli at perceptual threshold. We show that single-neuron activity in the endbrain of crows correlate with the birds’ perception about the presence or absence of a stimulus. These data provide an empirical marker of avian consciousness and helps to explain how activity giving rise to conscious awareness is processed in the bird brain. We conclude that consciousness emerged either before or at least independently from the mammalian lineage, and does not require a cerebral cortex in all animals.

The online application for this event is Zoom Webinar. You can register for the event by using this link.

Data Protection Information Regarding Zoom Webinars (English / German)

###

This event is taking place via Zoom (Zoom Video Communications, Inc., 55 Almaden Blvd., Suite 600, San Jose, CA 95115, USA). Zoom is an EU-US Privacy Shield-certified company that recognizes the importance of data protection and that, in accordance with the EU-standard contractual clauses of the order processing contract with the MPIEA, guarantees adequate data protection.

Zoom processes your personal data when you use it. You can find out which information is processed and what Zoom does with it here: zoom.us/docs/en-us/privacy-and-legal.html.

You can test whether your IT system meets the requirements for using Zoom here: zoom.us/test.

The legal basis for using Zoom is the MPIEA’s legitimate interest in the smooth operation of an online podium discussion (art. 6, para. 1[f] GDPR).

Für diese Veranstaltung setzen wir Zoom (Zoom VideoCommunications, Inc., 55 Almaden Blvd. Suite 600, San Jose, CA95113, USA) ein.

Zoom ist EU-U.S. Privacy Shield zertifiziert, legt selbst hohen Wert auf Datenschutzfreundlichkeit und garantiert dem MPIEA mittels AV-Vertrag auf Basis der EU-Standardvertragsklauseln ein angemessenes Datenschutzniveau.

Zoom verarbeitet Ihre personenbezogenen Daten, wenn Sie das Tool nutzen. Hier können Sie erfahren, welche Daten Zoom verarbeitet und wie Zoom mit Ihren Daten umgeht: zoom.us/docs/de-de/privacy- and-legal.html

Ob Ihr IT-System die technischen Anforderungen von Zoom erfüllt, können Sie prüfen, indem Sie diese Seite aufrufen: https://zoom.us/test

Rechtsgrundlage für den Einsatz von Zoom ist das berechtigte Interesse, nämlich das reibungslosen Abhalten eines online Podiumsgesprächs (Art. 6 Abs. 1 lit. f DSGVO).