Bird neurons use three times less glucose than mammalian neurons



Birds exhibit a high level of intellect and have excellent cognitive abilities. Birds' brains also have much more neurons than those of mammals of a similar size. Now, a new study published on September 8 in Current Biology sheds light on how birds can sustain more brain cells since their neurons require less glucose to function.

According to Kaya von Eugen of Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, "What astonished us the most is not that the neurons use less glucose per se — this could have been expected by changes in their neurons' sizes." "The size difference can't be the only issue, though, because the magnitude of the change is so great. This suggests that the ability of the bird brain to keep expenses so low must be due to further differences."

According to a seminal study published in 2016, the bird brain contains far more neurons than a brain of a comparable size in a mammal. It highlighted a crucial question: how are birds able to support so many neurons? Given that brains are typically made up of tissue that requires a lot of energy to function.

Von Eugen and colleagues set out to resolve this question by calculating the neural energy budget of birds using pigeon research. They estimated the birds' glucose metabolism by using imaging techniques. They also computed the brain's metabolic rate and glucose consumption using modeling techniques.

According to their research, when a pigeon is awake, its brain uses an incredibly little glucose (27.29 1.57 mol glucose per 100 g per min). When compared to mammals, that results in a fairly small energy budget for the brain.

In other words, on average, neurons in the bird brain use three times less glucose than neurons in the mammalian brain. In other words, for unknown reasons, their neurons are less expensive.

According to Von Eugen, it's plausible that the variations are due to the higher body temperature or distinct brain architecture of birds. Additionally, the average size of the bird brain is lower than that of a mammal. However, despite having less expensive but more neurons, their brains still have outstanding powers.

According to von Eugen, "this discovery explains how birds are able to support such enormous numbers of neurons without sacrificing processing power." "Birds developed smaller brains with a large number of neurons that are capable of high-level cognitive ability during the lengthy parallel evolution of birds and mammals. And it appears that the interaction of three bird-specific characteristics—small neuron size, high body temperature, and bird-specific brain organization—may have led to a potential advantage in information processing by neurons at a higher efficiency: inexpensive neurons with superior processing power."

According to the researchers, they are now interested in learning more about how birds' neurons use less glucose. They have theories as to how it might operate, but further research and experimentation are required to determine "the precise molecular explanation of how birds acquire such a better efficiency of neural processing."

Cell Press

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