Woodpeckers show signs of possible brain damage

Green Woodpeckers by Harry Appleyard, Howe Park Wood 11 April 2016

Green Woodpeckers by Harry Appleyard, Howe Park Wood 11 April 2016

With each peck, woodpeckers absorb more than ten times the force it would take to give a human a concussion. But they seem fine. Researchers examined the brains of woodpeckers in museum collections and saw that the brains showed a build-up of a protein that’s a sign of brain damage in humans. The woodpeckers might not have sustained brain damage themselves, though — the researchers think that protein build-up could possibly be beneficial to the birds.

Click here to read the rest of the article: Woodpeckers show signs of possible brain damage, but that might not be a bad thing — ScienceDaily