Rat resilience

Article and illustration by Raushan Reehal

A recent study conducted by award-winning behavioural neuroscientist Professor Kelly Lambert at the University of Richmond, USA, has used rats to study resilience. Professor Lambert’s group performed experiments which involved giving one group of rats fruit loops. The other experimental group of rats were required to dig for their fruit loops in sawdust.

In the next part of the experiment, the same two groups of rats were given an impossible task to complete: both groups were required to retrieve fruit loops, this time hidden inside a cat toy.

Interestingly, the group of rats that had their food given to them in the first phase of the experiment, were less inclined to extract the food out from the cat toy, giving up more easily compared to the first group. The rats that had been digging also appeared to be less stressed and attempted to solve the puzzle more times.

This study demonstrated how resilience learnt in the past can influence its levels in the future. Professor Kelly Lambert’s podcasts on Spotify highlight discoveries and research in neuroscience. Check it out if you are keen to hear more on the subject.