Can rats count? Research identifies a sense of numeracy in rodents

Can rats count? Research identifies a sense of numeracy in rodents

Arithmetic calculation is not unique to humans. Some birds, insects, monkeys and fish have a sense of numbers. And they’re not the only ones. A study published in the journal Science Advances claims to have identified a sense of numeracy in rats.

According to research from Hong Kong, the brains of rats have a specific area for processing numbers.

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The South Korean research team behind this study made this discovery after conducting an experiment with rats that had not previously learned to count. They trained the rodents to recognize sound stimuli representing two or three numbers. The researchers also devised an algorithm to help these small mammals focus solely on numerical values, and not on other distracting factors. “This [helped] us better understand how animals perceive and quantify numbers,” explains study coauthor, professor Wing-Ho Yung, ina news release.

Wing-Ho Yung and colleagues found thatratscan develop a sense of numbers based on sound signals, even without any prior knowledge of numbers. This suggests that number is a basic property that the rodent brain automatically extracts from its environment.

The researchers also noticed that the rats’ ability to understand numbers was affected when they blocked their posterior parietal cortex, the area of the brain that plays a crucial role in processing spatial and sensory information. Surprisingly, however, their sense of size was not compromised in this case, suggesting that the rat brain has a specific area for processing numbers.

On the whole,this studyencourages the reconsideration of the cognitive capacities of animals, which appear to be far more complex and nuanced than previously thought. Research on the subject attests to the fact that animal brains are able to perceive the highly abstract concept of numbers. This is why some species are capable of sophisticated calculations such as addition and subtraction. Nevertheless, the scientific community agrees that it would be presumptuous to assume that animals are born mathematicians.

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