A recent lab test teaching rats to drive has us thinking
For those who fear that general enthusiasm for driving is in decline, I have positive news: it’s actually so great that even rats enjoy it. Kelly Lambert, a professor of behavioural neuroscience at the University of Richmond in Virginia , found in 2019 that rats could learn to drive little cars to reach a treat . Rats who were “housed in rich environments”, with toys and space and companions, more quickly learned to drive cars than those housed in regular cages.
“Previous work with lab rats has shown that rats pressing a bar for cocaine – a stimulant that increases dopamine activation – already experience a surge of dopamine as they anticipate a dose of cocaine,” she explained. And if you think that lab rats are having all the fun, driving around for sweet treats and getting caned off their tits, maybe they deserve a break.
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