Our overall goal is to understand how higher brain centers enable intelligent, goal-directed behaviours.We explore the functioning of highly intelligent mammalian and avian brains that evolved independently through convergent evolution.

The layered neocortex of the endbrain, particularly of the frontal and parietal lobes, constitutes the highest integration center of the primate brain. We therefore focus on the posterior parietal and prefrontal association cortices.

In corvid songbirds, we explore the nidopallium caudo-laterale (NCL) of the crow’s endbrain, a key cognitive brain component and the suggested functional analogue of the primate prefrontal cortex.