A good question, but fortunately it was done at the University of Barcelona and not in the U.S. for a change.
But here's the real kicker:
"The rats were trained to respond to either Dutch or Japanese using food as a reward.
Then they were separated into four groups -- one that heard each language spoken by a native, one that heard synthesized speech, one that heard sentences read in either language by different speakers and a fourth that heard the languages played backwards."
Sheer torture, even for rats. Imagine having to listen to Dutch and Japanese played backwards, etc. Where is PETA when you finally need them?
That still doesn't mean we didn't pay for it.