It’s easy to assume that the most surprising aspect of a research project where scientists teach rats to drive would be the mere achievement of getting the rodents behind the wheel. But the researchers now say their rodent students have in turn taught them a “profound” and unexpected lesson of their own. They’ve discovered that the rats seem to genuinely enjoy – and eagerly anticipate – getting behind the wheel.
Researchers in Virginia first made global headlines in 2019 when they succeeded in training rats to drive small cars made out of plastic cereal containers, powered by grasping a small wire acting like an acceleration pedal, in exchange for Froot Loops cereal. “Before long, they were steering with surprising precision to reach a Froot Loop treat,” said Kelly Lambert, a professor of behavioural neuroscience at University of Richmond, noting that rats housed in environments with friends, toys and space learned more quickly than those in sparser surroundings . Those efforts have since continued, with Professor Lambert describing new vehicles “akin to a rodent version of Tesla’s Cybertruck” equipped with rat-proof wiring, “indestructible tyres and ergonomic driving levers”.
Sharing details of their ongoing research into how rodents acquire new skills, Prof Lambert wrote in The Conversation : “Unexpectedly, we found that the rats had an intense motivation for their driving training, often jumping into the car and revving the ‘lever engine’ be.