Today in 2019, a headline on the news site New Scientist: “Scientists have trained rats to drive tiny cars to collect food” (!)
(If they made a movie about these little drivers it would be called like “Rata-2 Fast 2 Furious.”)
This was a project out of the University of Richmond.
The scientists knew that rats could be trained to do a whole bunch of different tasks, and they wanted to see if the rats could learn how to do something really complex, like driving.
So they took a plastic food container and attached wheels to it.
They also installed a floor plate made of aluminum and three metal bars.
The mini-car was actually a mini-circuit, so when a rat would, say, stand on the floor plate and touch the left bar, they would complete the circuit and steer the car to the left.
They could also move right and straight ahead.
As they drove around, they came across Froot Loops, a good reward for good driving.
And, as time went on, the scientists placed the cereal further and further away from where the cars started.
The rats essentially figured out how to make the car go where the food was.
Sometimes they used paths they hadn’t gone down before, so they weren’t just trying what had worked before.
This suggested that the rats’ brains were flexible enough that they could think their way to solutions, which is a pretty interesting conclusion all by itself.
But there’s more: the scientists also monitored hormone levels on the driving rats, as well as control group of rats who didn’t drive and were just passengers on remote-controlled cars.
The driving rats saw lower levels of stress hormones and HIGHER levels of hormones that offset stressors.
So using their brains to solve the challenge actually made them feel better!
And that benefits us, because if we’re ever in the mood to drive around and eat Froot Loops, we know who we can call for rides.
Now underway at the Dietrich Theater in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, it’s Spooky Fest.
Over two weeks they’re showing 13 movies that are perfect for the Halloween season.
Some are classics, some scary comedies, a few family friendly options, and of course they’re showing Rocky Horror.
Tonight, it’s Pennsylvania’s own Night of the Living Dead.
Scientists have trained rats to drive tiny cars to collect food (New Scientist)
Spooky Fest (Dietrich Theater)
Drive on over to our Patreon page and help support the show
Photo courtesy University of Richmond
