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 ...
You’ll likely find it parked at a local watering hole.
Wanna bet that the rats that are driving well are males?;-)
Interesting
dopamine actually peaks as expectation of some desired event is about to occur, not during the event itself.
dopamine actually peaks as expectation of some desired event is about to occur, not during the event itself.
Meh. B. F. Skinner taught pigeons to fly guided bombs in WWII.
I’ll believe this when I see a rat hit 300 yards off the tee.
I remember those! Boy does that bring back memories!
My question, too! Was this federally funded?
“ Rats with cars get all the rat-chicks.”
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Unless they drive a ratty old car!
Bookmark
My first thought was “how much money did we waste on this study?” but the idea of joyful engine revving rats caused me to LOL and my next thought was “however much we spent , it was worth it just for that image”.
Ding, ding, ding - we have a thread winnah!
How much taxpayer money was used to fund this “research” through government grants?
I remember having a couple of those models & a Rat Fink T-shirt.
LOL!
“Hey, Rachika, wanna take spin an’ go get some Froot Loops?”
“No way, Vermi! Not in that rat-trap!”
I did have one of the models, I had forgotten all about that. Good times!
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