DOI: 10.5061/dryad.83bk3j9xx
title: Source data for: All figures and tables included in NCOMMS-23-03997A

description: Tools enable animals to exploit and command new resources. However, the
 neural circuits underpinning tool use and how neural activity varies with
 an animal’s tool proficiency, are only known for humans and some other
 primates. We use 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography to
 image the brain activity of naïve vs trained American crows (Corvus
 brachyrhynchos) when presented with a task requiring the use of stone
 tools. As in humans, talent affects the neural circuits activated by crows
 as they prepare to execute the task. Naïve and less proficient crows use
 neural circuits associated with sensory- and higher-order processing
 centers (the mesopallium and nidopallium), while highly proficient
 individuals increase activity in circuits associated with motor learning
 and tactile control (hippocampus, tegmentum, nucleus basorostralis, and
 cerebellum). Greater proficiency is found primarily in adult female crows
 and may reflect their need to use more cognitively complex strategies,
 like tool use, to obtain food.
description: # Supplementary Dataset 
 **Sheet 1 (source data for Figures 2, 3, and 4 top and Supplementary
 Figures 1-5 in the SI)** shows the coordinates of activity (Z &gt; 4.0)
 identified by the program Neurostat (University of Utah) for all 17
 volumes of interest (VOIs) shown in Figures 2, 3, and 4. They are sorted
 according to the comparison being made. VOIs 1-4 and 5-6 are from
 comparing the post-training scans of the high vs low proficiency birds.
 1-4: activity that was significantly higher for the high proficiency crows
 compared to the low proficiency. 5-6: significantly higher for the low
 proficiency birds compared to high. VOI 7 is from comparing the
 post-training scans of the high vs medium proficiency birds. Like 5-6, the
 Z-score is negative because the activity was higher for the
 medium-proficiency birds compared to the high-proficiency crows. Finally,
 VOIs 9-17 are from comparing the post-training scans against the
 pre-training scans for all the birds (regardless of eventual proficiency).
 Columns E-G show the coordinates of the VOI in Neurostat. Note that the
 Z-coordinates (column G) corresponds to the slice number shown in
 Supplementary Figures 1-6 in SI). Columns H-J show the equivalent
 coordinates in the 2007 Izawa & Watanabe jungle crow atlas. Note that
 the Z-coordinates (column J) correspond to the AP values shown in Figs. 2,
 3, and 4. Column K shows the brain region identified by the 2007 Izawa
 & Watanabe jungle crow atlas the coordinate appears to correspond to,
 though we note any uncertainties or disagreements according to Kersten et
 al.'s 2022 Carrion crow atlas in Column L (we use “N/A” in the cell
 if we had no further comments about the position). **Sheet 2 (source data
 for Figures 2, 3, and 4 bottom)** shows the normalized uptake values
 (Column H) for every scan (Column C) of each individual bird (Column A) at
 the corresponding coordinates for each VOI identified in sheet 1 (Column
 F). We also included the bird's proficiency (Column E) to make it
 easier to recreate the bottom graphs of Figs 2-4. **Sheet 3 (source data
 for Figure 5, Tables 1-2, and Supplementary Figures 7+9 and Supplementary
 Tables 1-2 in the SI)** contains all the physical (Columns C-S) and
 training (Columns T-AM) information for every crow (Column A) used in this
 study. Some cells in Columns W-AL contain “N/A” if the crow did not spend
 any training days at the indicated proficiency level (e.g., because they
 never reached that proficiency, or because they skipped directly to the
 next proficiency). **Sheet 4 (source data for Supplementary Figure 8 in
 the SI)** shows the behavior of each crow during the uptake phase of the
 imaging process (i.e., when the stimulus was being repeatedly shown and
 hidden from them). Blink rate is calculated as number of blinks per 60 s.
 Note that we were unable to obtain eye-related data due to the crow’s
 position within the stimulus cage for 3 of the scans (rows 7, 11, and 22);
 these missing measures are denoted by “N/A”.