How birds can actually change the mind and improve cognition, surprising new research has found

Being a professional bird watcher is more than a hobby. It’s a hobby that can change the structure and function of your brain. And these changes may improve cognition as you age, new research suggests.

In a Canadian study of 58 adults, the brains of bird experts, compared to novices, were denser in areas related to attention and perception. Such tissue density may reflect more connections between neurons, and these structural differences have been associated with more accurate bird identification.

The findings were published Monday in JNeurosci, the Journal of Neuroscience.

“Our mind is very flexible,” said lead author Erik Wing, who during the study was a postdoctoral fellow at the Rotman Research Institute, part of the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education in Toronto.

When you learn a new skill, your brain reprograms itself through a process called neuroplasticity. Previous research has studied this phenomenon in people who hone special skills, including athletes and musicians.

Wing said his team chose to study birds because their observation and identification of birds in their habitats involves a unique combination of perceptual areas.

“[Birding] it combines grain identification, visual search and attention in the immediate area and sensitivity to motion, pattern detection, building these networks with different views of different related species,” said Wing, who is now a research associate at York University in Toronto.

MRIs show differences in the brain

The expert panel included 29 individuals aged 24 to 75 recruited from organizations such as the Toronto Ornithological Club and the Ontario Field Ornithologists. 29 people in the beginner group, aged 22 to 79, are recruited from similar birding groups, as well as outdoor clubs focusing on activities such as hiking and gardening.

Proficiency is determined by test scores rather than years of experience, although some participants have been driving for nearly half a century, Wing said.

During a bird-matching exercise, experts were more accurate than novices in identifying native and exotic bird species in the Toronto area.

What surprised the researchers, Wing said, was the expert’s sensory work in identifying the birds.

The study used two types of MRI to look at the participants’ brains: diffusion and activation.

Diffusion MRI, which measures brain structure, found that experts’ brains were denser in areas associated with processes including working memory, spatial awareness and object recognition.

Functional MRI, on the other hand, allowed the researchers to see which parts of the brain were active during the bird-like exercise. Among the experts, the same areas showing structural differences were involved during the work, especially when they were challenged to identify foreign birds.

“It gives us a window into how these regions can be important in early technology development,” Wing said. “We see then [birders] they actually use those kinds of skills to help them identify new species of birds that they don’t know.”

Bird adults get cognitive benefits, too

Professional birders have shown differences in brain structure compared to beginners – regardless of age.

Research does not include evidence that birding prevents cognitive decline. Still, the results suggest that birding may support brain health in older adults, said Molly Mather, a clinical psychologist at the Mesulam Institute for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease, part of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

“We have an aging population, not only in the United States but around the world, and we still don’t have any treatments that can stop or reverse any of the changes associated with aging or Alzheimer’s disease,” said Mather, who was not involved in the research. “It’s very important to build a real, scientific basis for what to recommend and why.”

Different studies reveal a chicken-vs.-egg conundrum, Mather said. That is, the separation of the expert brain may not be a direct result of bird driving. It is possible that people who already have these neurological traits are better birders.

Additionally, because the study participants were recruited from environmental organizations and outside groups, they may have been living healthier, more active lifestyles.

The benefits of being in nature

Benjamin Katz, an associate professor in the department of human development and family sciences at Virginia Tech, said other aspects of bird farming that have been shown to support brain health may exist. For example, birding involves being in nature, which is accompanied by enhanced attention; walking, which is tied to a reduced risk of cognitive impairment; and, in some cases, socialization, which is tied to increased processing speed.

“Birding is not just one thing,” said Katz, who was not part of the study. “There are many different aspects of the concept.”

Katz suggested that future research follow bird novices over time to see if their brains change as they acquire technology.

“We don’t know what the fundamental difference is,” he said. “You would need longitudinal data to make strong inferences about what the birding itself is doing.”

The study’s authors wrote that their method could be used to study possible brain reorganization in other complex skills.

“Our interests and experiences — especially those we dedicate hours, hundreds of hours or decades — leave an imprint on the structure of the brain,” Wing said. “We can figure out how people can use these information spaces they’ve built to support understanding throughout life.”