德国洪堡大学Michael Brecht研究组取得一项新进展。他们发现大鼠捉迷藏行为与神经活动之间的关系。相关论文于2019年9月13日发表于国际学术期刊《科学》杂志上。

研究人员与大鼠进行了玩捉迷藏（一个精心制作的角色扮演游戏）。 研究人员没有提供食物奖励，但在找到或被找到后进行了有趣的互动。大鼠很快学会了这个游戏，并学会了在隐藏与寻找角色之间交替。他们通过对过去隐藏位置的视觉和记忆进行寻找，并发出了特定于游戏事件的声音。当隐藏时，大鼠很少发出声音，并且他们更喜欢不透明的隐藏区域而不是透明的，但这一偏好在寻找过程中没有观察到。神经元记录显示强烈的前额皮层活动随游戏事件和试验类型而变化（“隐藏”与“寻找”）并可能指导角色扮演。大鼠对捉迷藏的精确认知能力表明，这种游戏可能在进化上早已出现过。

据介绍，哺乳动物玩耍行为的进化、认知和神经基础尚未完全阐明。

附：英文原文

Title: Behavioral and neural correlates of hide-and-seek in rats

Author: Annika Stefanie Reinhold, Juan Ignacio Sanguinetti-Scheck, Konstantin Hartmann, Michael Brecht

Issue&Volume: 2019/09/13

Abstract:

Evolutionary, cognitive, and neural underpinnings of mammalian play are not yet fully elucidated. We played hide-and-seek, an elaborate role-play game, with rats. We did not offer food rewards but engaged in playful interactions after finding or being found. Rats quickly learned the game and learned to alternate between hiding versus seeking roles. They guided seeking by vision and memories of past hiding locations and emitted game event–specific vocalizations. When hiding, rats vocalized infrequently and they preferred opaque over transparent hiding enclosures, a preference not observed during seeking. Neuronal recordings revealed intense prefrontal cortex activity that varied with game events and trial types (“hide” versus “seek”) and might instruct role play. The elaborate cognitive capacities for hide-and-seek in rats suggest that this game might be evolutionarily old.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aax4705

Source:https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6458/1180