Onur Güntürkün, Dr. phil., Dr. h.c.
Professor for Psychology
Ruhr University Bochum
Born in 1958 in Izmir, Turkey
Diploma in Psychology and Dr. phil. in Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum
Project
One Cognition
The famous evolutionary biologist Simon Conway Morris wrote: “Convergence points to the existence of a deeper structure in biology … Evolutionary paths are diverse, but the goals are limited.” This remark postulates the existence of constraints that steer evolutionary events into certain common paths. Instead of a rich diversity, we therefore discover astonishing similarities in life forms. Does this also apply to the brain and cognition?Possibly yes. Great apes such as chimpanzees have complex cognitive abilities and a brain with a large neocortex weighing a total of about 400 g. In comparison, birds such as corvids and parrots have a brain weight of between 3 and 25 g and no neocortex. This should make it impossible for birds to develop high cognitive abilities. However, studies over the past two decades have shown that there is no single cognitive ability in chimpanzees that has not also been demonstrated in corvids and parrots. Not only that, but the cognitive mechanisms these animals use to solve mental problems appear to be very similar. So, brains may look different, but they produce very similar cognitive abilities. But what are the constraints that force brains to converge in terms of cognition? Does the algorithmic process of information processing allow for little variance? Or is neural implementation a bottleneck? Or both? I will investigate this using working memory as a test field. This cognitive ability has been studied in a very large number of species, has strict constraints in humans (delay duration, number of items, complexity of items, influence of distractions), and its neural basis is well known in mammals and, to some extent, in birds. Therefore, working memory may be a good starting point for explaining why there are strong convergent forms of cognition between different species.
Recommended Reading
Stacho, Martin, Christina Herold, Noemi Rook, et al. (2020). “A Cortex-Like Canoni-cal Circuit in the Avian Forebrain.” Science 369: eabc5534. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc5534.
Güntürkün, Onur, Kaya von Eugen, Julian Packheiser, and Roland Pusch (2021). “Avian Pallial Circuits and Cognition: A Comparison to Mammals.” Current Opinion in Neurobiology 71: 29–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2021.08.007.
Güntürkün, Onur, Roland Pusch, and Jonas Rose (2024). “Why Birds Are Smart.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 28 (3): 197–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2023.11.002.
Colloquium, 25.11.2025
The Parallel Evolution of Complex Cognition
The famous evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould once aptly remarked: “If you could rewind the film of life under the same conditions, evolution would take a completely different course, and the human mind would not re-emerge, even if you could play this film of life a thousand times.” In contrast, his contemporary colleague Simon Conway Morris wrote: “Convergence points to the existence of a deeper structure of biology ... Evolutionary paths are diverse, but the goals are limited.” Decades after this controversy, we are increasingly discovering that evolution indeed seems to have serious limitations in its degrees of freedom. At least when it comes to brain and cognition. Take the following example: great apes such as chimpanzees have complex cognitive abilities and a brain weighing approximately 400 g, which includes a large neocortex. In comparison, birds such as corvids and parrots have a brain weighing between 3 and 25 g and no neocortex. This should make it impossible for birds to develop high cognitive abilities. However, studies over the past two decades have shown that there is not a single cognitive ability in chimpanzees that has not also been demonstrated in corvids and parrots. And not only that, also the mechanisms of thought are absolutely the same. This truly sounds like Simon Conway Morris: “Evolutionary paths are diverse, but the goals are limited.” How is this possible? This question keeps me awake at night because it challenges fundamental assumptions about the evolution of the neural basis of complex cognition. I have come to realize that I must travel back to the depths of vertebrate evolution to find answers. This lecture is about that journey.
Publications from the Fellow Library
Güntürkün, Onur (München, 2020)
Faszination Wissenschaft : 60 Begegnungen mit wegweisenden Forschern unserer Zeit Faszination Wissenschaft - Herlinde Koelbl
Güntürkün, Onur (Palo Alto, Calif., 2016)
The neural basis of long-distance navigation in birds
Güntürkün, Onur (Amsterdam, 2016)
Güntürkün, Onur (London, 2015)
Whistled Turkish alters language asymmetries
Güntürkün, Onur (New York [u.a.], 2015)
Network structure of functional hippocampal lateralization in birds
Güntürkün, Onur (Hamburg, 2015)
Unser Gehirn : wie wir denken, lernen und fühlen
Güntürkün, Onur (2014)
Geist - Gehirn - Genom - Gesellschaft : wie wurde ich zu der Person, die ich bin?
Güntürkün, Onur (Stuttgart, 2014)
Geist - Gehirn - Genom - Gesellschaft : wie wurde ich zu der Person, die ich bin? ; Vorträge anlässlich der Jahresversammlung vom 20. bis 22. September 2013 in Halle (Saale) Nova acta Leopoldina ; Neue Folge, Nummer 405 = Band 120
Güntürkün, Onur (2012)
The convergent evolution of neural substrates for cognition