老鼠很喜歡玩捉迷藏

Image credits: Humboldt-Universität Berlin

Michael Brecht, a Neuroscientist from Humboldt University in Berlin, stumbled upon some YouTube videos of pet owners playing with their rats. Many of them noted that their beloved animals love playing games, including hide-and-seek. Previous research has already concluded that rats enjoy rowdy games, but hide-and-seek is a complex game as it has specific rules and roles.

柏林洪堡大學(xué)(Humboldt University)的神經(jīng)學(xué)家邁克爾·布萊希特(Michael Brecht)偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了YouTube上一些寵物主人和老鼠玩耍的視頻。他們中的許多人指出，他們心愛的動物喜歡玩游戲，包括捉迷藏。之前的研究已經(jīng)得出結(jié)論，老鼠喜歡吵鬧的游戲，但捉迷藏是一個(gè)復(fù)雜的游戲，因?yàn)樗刑囟ǖ囊?guī)則和角色。

Image credits: Tambako The Jaguar (not the actual photo)

Brecht, with the help of his colleagues, set up an enclosed 30-square-meter playground with little shelters as well as transparent and opaque boxes. These served as hiding places for the rats. There were also a handful of hiding places for the experiment’s game master, Annika Stefanie Reinhold, as she was the one teaching them the ropes of hide-and-seek.

布萊希特在同事的幫助下，搭建了一個(gè)30平方米的封閉操場，操場上有小的遮蔽物，還有透明和不透明的盒子。這些地方用來藏老鼠。實(shí)驗(yàn)的游戲大師安妮卡·斯蒂芬妮·萊因霍爾德也有幾個(gè)藏身處，因?yàn)樗墙趟鼈冏矫圆氐娜恕?/p>

Image credits: Sue (not the actual photo)

Six rats were selected for this experiment. The game began with a rat being put into a lidded box. As soon as Reinhold hides, the box is opened remotely and the rat would jump out to look for her. The rats were rewarded with pats and tickles for finding the game master.

本實(shí)驗(yàn)選用6只大鼠。游戲開始時(shí)，一只老鼠被放進(jìn)一個(gè)有蓋子的盒子里。Reinhold一躲起來，盒子就被遠(yuǎn)程打開，老鼠就會跳出來找她。老鼠因?yàn)檎业搅擞螒虻闹魅硕玫搅溯p拍和撓癢癢的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)。

Image credits: Marco Nedermeijer (not the actual photo)

Then the roles change—the rat becomes the hider. Reinhold would crouch beside the now open box, letting the rat jump out and go hide in one of the prepared hiding places.

然后角色改變了——老鼠變成了隱藏者。萊因霍爾德會蹲在打開的箱子旁邊，讓老鼠跳出來，藏到一個(gè)事先準(zhǔn)備好的地方。

Image credits: Mike (not the actual photo)

In just 2 weeks of this experiment, five out of six rats knew how to play hide and seek in either of these two roles. They followed the rules of one rat seeking and others hiding and switching between these roles after the seeker has found the hiders.

在短短兩周的實(shí)驗(yàn)中，六分之五的老鼠知道如何在這兩種角色中玩捉迷藏。他們遵循的規(guī)則是一只老鼠尋找，另一只老鼠躲藏，并在尋找者找到隱藏者后在這些角色之間轉(zhuǎn)換。

Image credits: David Ascher (not the actual photo)

Most rough and tumble games, which the rats enjoy, do not include such elements as roles, rules and strategy, which, in contrast, is a huge part of hide and seek. This alone hints at how complex rat behavior can actually get. Neural tests also pinpointed the specific areas of the rat’s brain that processes such information as learning rules.

大多數(shù)老鼠喜歡的打滾游戲都不包括角色、規(guī)則和策略等元素，而這些元素恰恰是捉迷藏的重要組成部分。僅這一點(diǎn)就暗示了老鼠行為的復(fù)雜性。神經(jīng)測試還確定了老鼠大腦中處理學(xué)習(xí)規(guī)則等信息的特定區(qū)域。

Image credits: Mariposa Veterinary Wellness Center (not the actual photo)

Previous studies on rats also support the complexity of their brain. Another study—also covered by Bored Panda—has shown that rats are capable of expressing empathy towards other rats. The behaviors studied in this experiment involved one rat releasing another one from an enclosure. One case even records the saving rat also sharing its chocolate treat with the saved one.

先前對老鼠的研究也證實(shí)了它們大腦的復(fù)雜性。另一項(xiàng)研究——也被Bored Panda報(bào)道了——表明老鼠能夠?qū)ζ渌鲜蟊磉_(dá)同理心。在這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)中，一只老鼠從籠子里放出另一只老鼠。其中一個(gè)案例甚至記錄了施救的老鼠和被救的老鼠一起分享巧克力。

Image credits: Tambako The Jaguar (not the actual photo)

When asked whether the rats are doing this for fun, or because they are treated to a pet and a tickle, Brecht explained that the rats were jumping out of joy—something many mammals do when they are happy. They would also run off to a new hiding spot after being found without receiving a reward, thus prolonging the game. So, who said science can’t be fun?

當(dāng)被問及這些老鼠這么做是為了好玩，還是因?yàn)樗鼈儽划?dāng)做寵物或被撓癢癢時(shí)，布萊希特解釋說，這些老鼠是出于高興而跳了出來——許多哺乳動物在高興時(shí)都會這么做。他們還會在沒有得到任何獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)的情況下跑到一個(gè)新的隱藏地點(diǎn)，從而延長游戲時(shí)間。那么，誰說科學(xué)不可以很好玩呢。