Source data for: All figures and tables included in NCOMMS-23-03997A

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, ..., , , # 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 > 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 proficien...