Crows can evaluate visual info twice as fast as mammals
November 3, 2026 6:51am
Much of what we know about how a brain makes decisions comes from studying monkeys watching dots. In a task known as a random-dot-motion task, a cloud of flicke...
Much of what we know about how a brain makes decisions comes from studying monkeys watching dots. In a task known as a random-dot-motion task, a cloud of flickering specks drifts weakly in one direction while the subject tries to determine whether— and in which direction— it’s moving. The task has shown that in the primate neocortex, neurons gather visual evidence over time, with their firing rates climbing until they cross a threshold, when the animal commits to a decision. Ars Technica reported this update on 2026-10-23 with additional details in the linked source coverage.
5-Second Takeaway
Much of what we know about how a brain makes decisions comes from studying monkeys watching dots.
Why This Matters
In a task known as a random-dot-motion task, a cloud of flickering specks drifts weakly in one direction while the subject tries to determine whether— and in which direction— it’s moving. The task has shown that in the primate neocortex, neurons gather visual evidence over time, with their firing rates climbing until they cross a threshold, when the animal commits to a decision.
What Changed
- Ars Technica published this report on 2026-10-23.
- The headline focus is "Crows can evaluate visual info twice as fast as mammals".
- Much of what we know about how a brain makes decisions comes from studying monkeys watching dots.
- In a task known as a random-dot-motion task, a cloud of flickering specks drifts weakly in one direction while the subject tries to determine whether— and in which direction— it’s moving.
- The task has shown that in the primate neocortex, neurons gather visual evidence over time, with their firing rates climbing until they cross a threshold, when the animal commits to a decision.
- But avian brains don’t have a neocortex, so it wasn’t obvious how they made similar decisions.
- “This was the big question,” said Andreas Nieder, a neurobiologist at the University of Tübingen.
- “How [would] a differently organized avian brain encode decisions?”Read full article Comments.
Key Facts
- Ars Technica published this report on 2026-10-23.
- The headline focus is "Crows can evaluate visual info twice as fast as mammals".
- Much of what we know about how a brain makes decisions comes from studying monkeys watching dots.
- In a task known as a random-dot-motion task, a cloud of flickering specks drifts weakly in one direction while the subject tries to determine whether— and in which direction— it’s moving.
Key Numbers
- Ars Technica published this report on 2026-10-23.