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Top Comments: Bopping Lab Rats [1]

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Date: 2022-11-27

The colored dots allow cameras to follow the rat's movements in response to music. Photo credit: Y. ITO ET AL/SCI. ADV. 2022

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the relationship humans have to music is a deep one. In all human societies, people make music and respond to it, often by dancing to the beat. it is speculated that music is older than language as a mode of human communication. On the other hand, while humans are not the only species to make music, we’re one of very few species who respond to rhythmic music by moving our bodies in time to the rhythm. If you play music for most animals, they usually don’t visibly respond to it at all. This raises the question of how humans may have evolutionarily acquired the urge to dance, or otherwise move in time wth music (foot-tapping or head-bobbing). It is known that parrots can respond to music by bobbing their heads in synch with the rhythm, but now, this behavior has also been observed in rats.

Researchers played music by Mozart, Queen, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson and others, and then closely analyzed the rats’ movements in response to the musical rhythms. You can watch the results:

x YouTube Video

Okay, so this rat is not going to win any dance contests any time soon. Its rhythmic motions are subtle, but they are nonetheless unmistakeable. The researchers discovered that rats would respond with head-bobbing within the same rhythm ranges that humans do: between 120 and 140 beats per minute. This contradicted a hypothesis that smaller animals would prefer to respond to music with a faster beat, and suggests that there is something fundamental in the way animals respond to rhythm.

The researchers also emphasize that these animal responses to music don’t mean that they enjoy it, or even perceive it in the way we do. These observations raise more questions than they answer.

So it’s probably not a good idea to invite any rats to your next dance party.

Comments are below the fold.

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