An amazing study reveals almost human-like abilities in rats
A group of Chinese scientists claim to have obtained evidence of a discrete sense of number in rats during an experiment. The results of the study demonstrate an important animal model that can be used to further study the neural basis of mathematical abilities in humans.
This was reported by SSPDaily.
The sense of number is one of the key abilities of animals that helps them perceive the world around them, which increases their chances of survival. In humans, number sense is an important cognitive ability and the basis for the mathematical abilities that are inherent in human intelligence. However, some people with normal intelligence (3-7% of the population) are unable to master even basic math skills. This feature of brain activity is called dyscalculia in medicine.
As part of the study, the researchers created conditions that allowed the animals to focus on numbers only and not be distracted by extraneous stimuli. The rats, which had no knowledge of numbers at the beginning of the experiment, were taught sounds representing two or three numbers. As a result, the animals developed a sense of number, which they used when choosing a food reward, focusing on the number of sound signals.
"When we blocked a specific part of the rat brain called the posterior parietal cortex, their ability to understand numbers was impaired, but not their sense of magnitude. This suggests that the rat brain has a special area for working with numbers. In fact, this is the first scientific demonstration that rats are able to distinguish and categorize three different numbers in a single test, which is superior to simple quantitative comparison," neuroscientist Yung Wing Ho explained.
The results of this study can be the basis for finding treatment methods for people with dyscalculia, and will also be useful for the development of artificial intelligence.
As a reminder, Mentee Robotics has presented a robot that understands human speech and can learn. The Menteebot prototype contains AI at every level of its operations.
