O rato de madeira

https://www.publico.pt/2018/12/07/tecnologia/noticia/50-anos-segundo-rato-famoso-mundo-enfrenta-possivel-extincao-1853965

Citando:
"A 9 de Dezembro de 1968, o engenheiro informático norte-americano Douglas Engelbart dirigia um centro de investigação para o aumento da inteligência humana, subsidiário da Universidade de Stanford, e em hora e meia fez perante cerca de duas mil pessoas uma apresentação pública que viria a moldar a experiência humana com computadores e tecnologia nas décadas seguintes.

Durante essa hora e meia, Engelbart e membros da sua equipa, alguns no laboratório a vários quilómetros de distância, demonstraram pela primeira vez tecnologia que é hoje corriqueira, do rato ao hipertexto, passando pela videoconferência e processamento de texto."

Comichão estudada

http://m.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11816851

Citação:
"They found that a brain region called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) was highly active while the mice were watching the video.

The SCN is a tiny region in the hypothalamus that controls when animals fall asleep or wake up.

When the mouse saw other mice scratching, the brain's SCN released a chemical substance called GRP (gastrin-releasing peptide).

A previous study by the researchers found that GRP is a key chemical transmitter of 'itch signals' between the skin and the spinal cord."

Ratos à prova de coca?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mice-genetically-modified-cocaine-drug-addiction-research-lab-university-british-columbia-a7577356.html

Citando:

“That plasticity allows for the pruning of some neural pathways and the formation of others, enabling the brain to adapt and to learn.

“Ideally, we would need to find a molecule that blocks formation of a memory of a drug-induced high, while not interfering with the ability to remember important things.”

Her colleague, graduate student Andrea Globa, added: “Through genetic engineering, we hard-wired in place the synapses in the reward circuits of these mice.

“By preventing the synapses from strengthening, we prevented the mutant mice from ‘learning’ the memory of cocaine, and thus prevented them from becoming addicted.”

Zombies podem não estar tão longe como isso (investigação em ratos)

Com tanta coisa boa para investigar olhem só o que foi agora descoberto ao nível do cérebro
https://m.phys.org/news/2017-01-keys-behavior-tucked-deep-vertebrate.html
Citando:
"The researchers used optogenetics, a means of engineering specific neurons to fire upon light stimulation, to isolate and selectively activate each set of neurons. When the laser is off, the animals behave normally. But turn the laser on, and the mice take on qualities of "walkers" from The Walking Dead, pursuing and biting almost anything in their path, including bottle caps and wood sticks. "We'd turn the laser on and they'd jump on an object, hold it with their paws and intensively bite it as if they were trying to capture and kill it," says lead investigator Ivan de Araujo (...)"