Crow & primate memory

Ars Technica published a short article on Corvid memory linking a recent research article published in Nature. The Ars Technica post was titled: Corvids seem to handle temporary memories the way we do. Which goes toward an early post about humans not fully understanding the perception capabilities (and connected mental / physical activities) of different animals, especially Corvids (crows and ravens).

They set up the research results with the following

To find out if corvids process stimuli using short-term memory with attractor dynamics, the researchers subjected two jackdaws to a variety of tests that involved remembering colors. Each bird had to peck on a white button to begin the test. They were then shown a color—the target color—before being shown a chart of 64 colors. The jackdaws had to look at that chart and peck the color they had previously been shown. A correct answer would get them their favorite treat, while responses that were close but not completely accurate would get them other treats.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/12/some-bird-brains-can-remember-things-the-same-way-we-do/

The researchers published their methods and findings with an abstract

Working memory (WM) is a crucial element of the higher cognition of primates and corvid songbirds. Despite its importance, WM has a severely limited capacity and is vulnerable to noise. In primates, attractor dynamics mitigate the effect of noise by discretizing continuous information. Yet, it remains unclear whether similar dynamics are seen in avian brains. Here, we show jackdaws (Corvus monedula) have similar behavioral biases as humans; memories are less precise and more biased as memory demands increase. Model-based analysis reveal discrete attractors are evenly spread across the stimulus space. Altogether, our comparative approach suggests attractor dynamics in primates and corvids mitigate the effect of noise by systematically drifting towards specific attractors. By demonstrating this effect in an evolutionary distant species, our results strengthen attractor dynamics as general, adaptive biological principle to efficiently use WM.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-023-05442-5

In the discussion section of the Nature article, the key point resonated (my bold below).

Despite vastly different visual systems and brain organizations, corvids and primates show similar attractor dynamics, which can mitigate noise in visual working memory representations. Discrete attractors seem to be evolutionary conserved, not only across monkeys and humans, but also in corvids12. A categorical representation of color information in general with attractor colors as most representative examples seems to be an adaptive behavioral strategy to balance WM precision and limited capacity.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-023-05442-5