Birds may represent a useful animal model for studying human mental disorders.

Abstract

In basic neuropsychopharmacological research, some biobehavioural phenomena — e.g., population migration and navigation over long distances — are rarely considered because the most commonly used laboratory animals show little or no evidence of these phenomena. Nevertheless, they can be also relevant for the mechanism of human psychic aberrations. An annual migration is seen in migratory birds, certain marine mammals and several ungulates. For migratory birds, the time of departure is determined by the length of the photoperiod and is much less changeable than the chosen route. When navigating, migratory birds also use the direction and strength of the field lines of the Earth’s magnetic field. Because humans also seem to exhibit a certain sensitivity to the Earth’s magnetic field, the regulation in birds could also provide hints for research on human well-being. Some bird species have such highly developed cognitive abilities that this is considered proof of the possession of consciousness. Therefore, some birds may be suitable as experimental animals in neurobiological models for cognitive functions and for making the world of thought accessible. The dorsal diencephalic conduction system (DDCS) in humans is difficult to study due to its small size and complex architecture, but it is relatively well developed in more primitive vertebrates. For research into the primary interactions between the DDCS and the rest of the brain, the lamprey can be used as laboratory animal. There is manifold evidence that the DDCS along with forebrain and upper brainstem is of functional relevance and the significance of the DDCS in cortical-controlled networks could then be investigated in birds and verified in humans.