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 ...
"Faster, Toonces! Faster!"
Rats with cars get all the rat-chicks.
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.”
Join the rat race!
Wonder what would happen if you taught them to use an AR-15...
Lies, disinformation! Everyone knows that liberals can’t drive!
Are they saying democrats can be trained?
anticipating fun can enrich human life
Next thing you know they will be voting.
Perhaps have them restore bare spots in our National Parks.
LOL
Toonces in post 2!
California freeways are infested with these berserk rat drivers.
LOL!
Ding, ding, ding - WE HAVE A WINNER!
Humph. Pure driving in and of itself is a kind of passive vicarious motion similar to what music gives: the feeling of accomplishment and that's the joy of entertainment. But it's the passivity that will kill you.
So how much this folly cost the taxpayers???
I hope he brings the car back soon. I’ll need it for work Monday.
I’m a father who taught four daughters to drive.
Rats driving? What’s the deal? Democrats have been driving since the Model T.
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