A research team in Germany found the part of the brain essential for play and laughter.
“For example, children check for laughter when they play-fight with each other. If their playmate isn’t laughing anymore, they stop fighting,” he added.
But rats don’t laugh as easily as humans do. The researchers made sure that rats were given leeway to move around freely for e couple of days, and then eventually that they are accustomed to the humans interacting with them. When amused, rats squeak at a high-pitched tone that humans cannot hear. The researchers monitored this sound to ensure that the rats were having fun.
They found that the PAG lit up with neural responses when the rats were tickled. But if the PAG was inhibited or shut off, the rats played less and did not laugh as frequently. The same behavior was observed when rats were put in an anxious situation.Laboratory rats are often used in animal model research. These rats have our sympathies. In a study conducted in Australia, researchers tickled rats every day for a month to see if it will improve their emotional well-being.
One of the limitations of the study, as pointed out by Margaret McCarthy, a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who spoke toSince the behavioral response in male rats is different than female rats, which are known to have different rates of play, McCarthy said she hopes in the future follow-up studies will include female rats as well.The persistence of play after decortication points to a subcortical mechanism of play control.
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