Overview
- Published Feb. 23 in JNeurosci, the peer-reviewed study compared 29 expert birders with 29 matched novices spanning roughly ages 22–79.
- Diffusion MRI revealed lower mean diffusivity in frontoparietal and posterior cortical regions in experts, and lower values across these areas predicted higher identification accuracy.
- Task-based fMRI showed experts selectively engaged bilateral prefrontal cortex, intraparietal sulcus and right occipitotemporal cortex during a bird-matching task, particularly for unfamiliar species.
- Experts outperformed novices behaviorally, identifying about 83% of local species and 61% of non-local species versus roughly 44% for both in novices.
- Experts exhibited a less steep age-related increase in mean diffusivity across key regions, consistent with cognitive reserve hypotheses, though pre-existing traits and lifestyle factors remain plausible alternatives.