Right/Left side of the (parrots) brain!

[pearllyn]

Hi Folks,

 

I just read a post about a grey being scared of her toys. Alfie is awfly suspicious of new toys and can take up to 2/3 weeks to accept some.

When I'm working with the horses, if I'm out on a ride and come across something that scares them, it can take up to half an hour or more to get them to go past that scary object, but they will eventually go past it. if you pass the same object on the way back, therefore your horse is seeing it out of the other eye, you have to go through the whole process again ie even if his right eye has seen and accepted something, the information isn't be passed on to the left eye! Horses aren't stupid, it's just the way they're wired.

I'm wondering if it's the same for the parrots, with their eye's working indepenantly of each other like horses do?

 

HOpe you and yours are all well

 

Lyn & Alf

 

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[judygram]

That is interesting Lyn but I don't have the answer but I do know that something looked at from another angle looks different even to us. For example when I am traveling a road never traveled before you see things that when you come back thru from the other direction they do look differently so I don't know whether that has anything to do with it or not.

 

I think parrot eyes do work independently of each other but then I could be wrong, maybe someone who has more knowledge can help us out here.

[pearllyn]

Thanks Judy.

I just noticed I've put two posts in the welcome room when they should've gone in the grey lounge! No idea how I managed that!

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[judygram]

Not to worry Lyn, admin will move them to the appropriate rooms.

[danmcq]

There is no disconnect between the avian or horse left and right side of brain. If a horse or a bird is leery of something as it goes by in one direction, it will still be leery going in the opposite direction. They still fear it and will go by very cautiously.

 

Here is one of the best articles I have read on the Avian brain put in understandable form form:

 

http://www.dana.org/news/cerebrum/detail.aspx?id=798

 

Only an Admin can move a post from one room to another. :-)

[judygram]

Thanks Dan for that link, yes even I can understand that.

[Luvparrots]

Thanks for the link Dan. Very interesting!!

[particle77]

The corpus callosum is the part of the brain that allows the left and right hemispheres to communicate. In humans, when it is severed, the left and right sides behave independently. sometimes this is obvious to the person in question, they will be aware that one hand is doing something involuntarily, and other times they are not aware(we seem to be good at providing reasonable explanations for our behavior, and believing those explanations).

 

Birds have this bridge between the two hemispheres, so it is likely, that as with humans, they are passing information back and forth.

 

Like humans, many birds do exhibit strong preference for using one side of the brain vs. the other for tasks. This is why humans are left or right handed, and why parrots are frequently left or right footed. Interestingly enough studies have shown that ambidextrous parrots are not as proficient at problem solving as there left or right footed brethren. Its been theorized that this is because two specialized hemispheres are more productive than 2 jack of all trades hemispheres.

[pearllyn]

Dan that's an interesting read! THanks for the link.

 

Particle77, that is helpful info also.

I have read that there have only been limited studies pertaining to interocular transfer (IOT) that is visual transmission of information from the left and right hemispheres of the brain in horses. The reason that this is an issue is due to the role the corpus callosum plays in the transfer of visual information.

The function of the corpus callosum in horses is very different than that of a human.

These nerve bundles that connect the hemispheres of the brain function in a more independent way in the horse. This independence in the transfer of information allows the horse to act and react to the information coming from each eye. The left horse sees and reacts as well as the right horse. Really it is as if you have two horses that your are riding and teaching. We have always had to teach both the left and right side of the horse.

I just wondered if it were the same for parrots as they have eyes on the sides of their head same as horses, but clearly, from Dan's link, parrots brains are wired very differently!

 

Thanks everyone!

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[Debandbella]

Thats a complicated one! I have ridden my horse so many time when there is something spooky on the other side of the road but on the way home when were passing it on the other side it suddenly turns into a 3 headed monster with claws that is determined to harm my Bryony. Is she genuinely scared of it or is she pretending?

[pearllyn]

Lol Dabandbella, I do feel my horses are genuinly scared of the 3 headed monsters - especially the horse eating variety! I do think tho that on some things, they take the mickey a wee bit, and while of course every horse is and will react differently, they are flight animals and their first and strongest instinct is to get away from these monsters! If my horse is not really scared but just having a little tizzy, they give up the fight a lot quicker than if they are actually scared of it!

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