By Free Republic | Created at 2024-11-17 15:29:48 | Updated at 2024-11-17 17:43:27
2 hours ago
I’m a neuroscientist who taught rats to drive − their joy suggests how anticipating fun can enrich human life
The Conversation ^ | 11/11/2024
Posted on 11/17/2024 7:24:28 AM PST by DFG
We crafted our first rodent car from a plastic cereal container. After trial and error, my colleagues and I found that rats could learn to drive forward by grasping a small wire that acted like a gas pedal. Before long, they were steering with surprising precision to reach a Froot Loop treat.
As expected, rats housed in enriched environments – complete with toys, space and companions – learned to drive faster than those in standard cages. This finding supported the idea that complex environments enhance neuroplasticity: the brain’s ability to change across the lifespan in response to environmental demands.
After we published our research, the story of driving rats went viral in the media. The project continues in my lab with new, improved rat-operated vehicles, or ROVs, designed by robotics professor John McManus and his students. These upgraded electrical ROVs – featuring rat-proof wiring, indestructible tires and ergonomic driving levers – are akin to a rodent version of Tesla’s Cybertruck.
As a neuroscientist who advocates for housing and testing laboratory animals in natural habitats, I’ve found it amusing to see how far we’ve strayed from my lab practices with this project. Rats typically prefer dirt, sticks and rocks over plastic objects. Now, we had them driving cars.
But humans didn’t evolve to drive either. Although our ancient ancestors didn’t have cars, they had flexible brains that enabled them to acquire new skills – fire, language, stone tools and agriculture. And some time after the invention of the wheel, humans made cars.
Although cars made for rats are far from anything they would encounter in the wild, we believed that driving represented an interesting way to study how rodents acquire new skills.
(Excerpt) Read more at theconversation.com ...
TOPICS: Science
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1 posted on 11/17/2024 7:24:28 AM PST by DFG
To: DFG
"Faster, Toonces! Faster!"
2 posted on 11/17/2024 7:26:52 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (My decisions about people are based almost entirely on skin color. I learned this from Democrats.)
To: DFG
Rats with cars get all the rat-chicks.
3 posted on 11/17/2024 7:27:04 AM PST by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
To: DFG
Fascinating article! Thanks for posting it. “Unexpectedly, we found that the rats had an intense motivation for their driving training, often jumping into the car and revving the “lever engine” before their vehicle hit the road.”
4 posted on 11/17/2024 7:28:51 AM PST by Blurb2350 (posted from my 1500-watt blow dryer)
To: DFG
5 posted on 11/17/2024 7:29:00 AM PST by null and void ( Every political system is flawed, and all bureaucracies are corrupt. ~ chud)
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