The metaphor "rat race" may soon have a more literal meaning. This is because scientists have been teaching rats to drive a tiny, purpose-built car a laboratory. Neuroscientist Dr Kelly Lambert the University of Richmond the USA has been working the car-driving rodents since 2019. Speaking to the online news agency "The Conversation," she explained that the creatures not only learned to rev the engines their miniature vehicles, they seemed to "get a kick of it". She said: "Unexpectedly, we found that the rats had an intense motivation their driving training, often jumping the car and revving the 'lever engine' before their vehicles hit the road."
Lambert's study was to explore the relationship rats and their environments. She wanted to find how their cognition developed, and how they processed new skills. In her tests, she placed one group lab rats in a space that contained many toys and companions. The other test rodents were put an area no toys and fewer friends. Dr Lambert trained the rats to correlate driving a sweet cereal reward. Those the more enriched environment learned to drive faster. Dr Lambert concluded her research findings supported the idea that complex environments enhanced neuroplasticity. This is the brain's ability to form and reorganize connections response to learning.
