Rats can tell the difference between human languages
10 January 2005
by Richard
Conan-Davies
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In an unusual ability that might almost freak people out, researchers have discovered that rats can learn the difference between two different human languages. In research conducted by the Parc Cientific de Barcelona , of Spain, led by Juan Toro they trained 16 rats to press a lever when Japanese was spoken or when Dutch was spoken for 5 seconds. So how do the rats manage to do this? Well it is probably the rhythm and intonation of human speech that is picked up by the rats and were able to tell the difference. So what does it mean? Well it is more a study of brain development and ability from an evolutionary perspective. The rats probably don't use this skill for figuring out whether they have to deal with French people or Chinese but rather it is an in built brain ability that may ultimately help them find food in the environment or listen for danger sounds. But this is an important mental ability that would be needed for any eventual development of language or complex communication. The researchers would be interested to know about this skill in song birds too. |
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