Rodent THOUGHT DETECTOR Application

[Chip (OP)]

https://www.earth.com/news/study-reveals-that-rats-have-an-imagination/

11-04-2023

Rats have an imagination like humans and they use it often

By Eric Ralls, Earth.com staff writer.

A recent study from Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Research Campus has revealed that rats have surprising cognitive abilities, including imagination. The research suggests they can imagine and think about places and objects.

This revelation offers a brand new perspective on imagination, which was thought to be a uniquely human trait.

How to study rat imagination

In a collaboration between the labs of Tim Harris and Albert Lee, an innovative system was designed that fuses virtual reality with a brain-machine interface.

This allowed the researchers to delve into the realm of a rat’s inner thoughts. The real-time “thought detector” was designed to measure neural activity and translate what it meant.

Spatial memory

The results show that animals are capable of thinking about places or objects that are not immediately present, which is comparable to a human mentally planning a walk to a particular location.

These internal experiences activate distinct neural patterns in the hippocampus – the part of the brain that is pivotal for spatial memory. According to the study, rats can voluntarily invoke these activity patterns to recollect remote locations apart from their current whereabouts.

Rats use imagination to daydream
“The rat can indeed activate the representation of places in the environment without going there,” said study first author Chongxi Lai. “Even if his physical body is fixed, his spatial thoughts can go to a very remote location.”

The ability to imagine locations away from one’s current position is fundamental to remembering the past and planning for the future. Therefore, the researchers believe their work shows that animals, like humans, possess a form of imagination.

“To imagine is one of the remarkable things that humans can do.

Now we have found that animals can do it too, and we found a way to study it,” said study co-author Albert Lee.

The thought dictionary

The project was initiated nine years ago by Lai when he was a graduate student under advisor Tim Harris. Lai came up with the idea to test whether an animal can think.

Engineered with the help of Lee and Harris, the thought detector provides a direct link between the rat’s hippocampal activity and an interactive 360-degree virtual environment.

Creating a “thought dictionary,” the team translated hippocampal activity patterns into discernible experiences in the VR arena.

With the rat operating a spherical treadmill, its movements are mirrored on a surround-screen.

Simultaneously, its hippocampal activity is logged, laying the groundwork for the brain-machine interface (BMI) that can convert brain function into virtual actions."