Neuroscientist Trains Rats to Operate Miniature Vehicles, Indicating Excitement Predicting Enjoyment Could Be Beneficial for Human Life Experience Enhancement
Messin' around with rodent rcars ain't your ordinary lab work. My pals and I whipped up one from a plastic cereal container, and those rats learned to drive it in no time! They'd grip onto a wire like a gas pedal, steering towards a Froot Loop treat with impressive precision.
Not surprisingly, rats housed in environs embellished with toys, space, and companions learned to drive swifter than their peers in standard cages. This finding backed up the idea that rich environments boost the brain's neuroplasticity: its ability to morph across a lifespan in response to environmental demands.
After our research hit the press, the rat-driving story started spreading like wildfire in media circles. Our project's still going strong in my lab, thanks to robotics professor John McManus and his students. They've pimped up our electrical rat-operated vehicles (ROVs) with rat-proof wiring, robust tires, and ergonomic driving levers—kinda like a mini Tesla Cybertruck for rats!
As a neuroscientist advocate for lab animals, I gotta admit it's funny stepping away from my usual creatures-in-natural-habitat vibe with this project. Rats generally go for dirt, sticks, and rocks rather than plastic objects. So having them drive cars was a bit of a shocker!
But humans didn't evolve to drive, either. Our ancestors may not have had cars, but they've got flexible brains that let them pick up new skills: fire, language, tools, and agriculture. After the invention of the wheel, humans jumped on the car bandwagon, even if it wasn't exactly what they'd encounter in the wild.
Still, driving cars ain't exactly the survival skill our rodent friends would use in nature. But it gave us an interesting viewpoint on how rats learn new tricks. It turns out they've got an intense motivation for their driving training, often jumping into the car and revving the "lever engine" before it hits the road. What gives?
We noticed some rats pressing a lever even before their vehicle hit the track, like they were ready to ride.
Concepts from intro psych textbooks took on a new, hands-on dimension in our rodent driving lab. Building on learning basics such as operant conditioning, we trained them step-by-step in their driver's ed programs. First, they learned the fundamentals, like climbing into the car and pressing a lever. With practice, these actions evolved into more complex behaviors, like steering the car towards a specific destination.
One summer morning in 2020, during the pandemic, something peculiar happened. Our driving-trained rats rushed to the side of their cages like my dog when I ask if he's ready for a walk. Had they always done this, and I just didn't catch it? Or were they just stoked for a Froot Loop, or excited about the driving itself? Whatever it was, it looked like they were feeling something positive—maybe excitement and anticipation.
Positive experiences and anticipation shape neural functions in rats, recent research suggests. So, maybe we were witnessing something like joy in a rat.
With my team, we switched our focus from the effects of chronic stress on brains to the impact of positive events on learning and behavior. We designed a new protocol that involved waiting periods to build anticipation before rewards. With some Pavlovian conditioning thrown in, rats had to wait 15 minutes after a Lego block was placed in their cage before they got a Froot Loop. They also needed to wait in their transport cage for a few minutes before entering Rat Park, their playground. We added obstacles too, like making them crack sunflower seeds before eating.
We dubbed this our Wait For It research program. After about a month of training, we put our rats through various tests to observe the effects of anticipation on learning and behavior. We started peering into their brains to map the neural pathways of extended positive experiences.
Initial findings suggest that rats that had to wait for their rewards displayed a shift towards an optimistic cognitive style in a test designed to measure rodent optimism. They excelled in cognitive tasks and took braver approaches to problem-solving. We linked this program to our lab's broader interest in behaviorceuticals—a term I coined to indicate that experiences can alter brain chemistry similarly to pharmaceuticals.
The anticipation of positive experiences can boost behavior and brain chemistry in rats, catching our attention here at the lab. One day, a student spotted something peculiar: One of the rats trained to expect positive experiences had its tail straight up, with a crook at the end, resembling the handle of an umbrella.
Curious, I shared a photo on social media. Neuroscientists identified this as a gentler form of Straub tail, usually spotted in rats given opioids like morphine. This S-shaped curl is linked to dopamine, a key player in brain pathways that decrease pain and enhance reward. This suggests that the nerve pathways associated with positive anticipation may involve the same brain regions that govern opiate addiction.
From studying negative emotions like stress and fear to finding the impact of positive situations on the brain, this rat-driving project opened up new doors in my behavioral neuroscience research lab. The anticipation of positive experiences can significantly affect a rat's behavior and brain chemistry, preparing them for better performance and adaptability in challenging situations.
In a world obsessed with immediate gratification, these rats remind us that patience, anticipation, and enjoyment in the journey may be the key to a healthy brain.
- The findings of our rat-driving research, combined with the use of rich environments in experimental settings, support the idea that mental health and wellness, backed by neuroplasticity, can lead to improved learning and problem-solving skills.
- By implementing a Wait For It research program, we discovered that extended positive experiences can alter a rat's cognitive style to be more optimistic, enhancing their performance in cognitive tasks, and parallels the effects of behaviorceuticals on brain chemistry.
- The strange tail position of one of our rats, resembling the handle of an umbrella, showed similarities to Straub tail, a sign of opioid-induced effects in the brain, suggesting that positive anticipation may activate the same brain regions involved in reward pathways and drug addiction. In this way, our rat-driving project extends research in educational and self-development areas by exploring optimal ways to improve brain function through positive experiences.
