Word: rodents
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...bars, burrows into wood shavings on the floor, eats, eliminates, sleeps. But put the animal through its paces in a testing lab, and it quickly becomes evident that this mouse is anything but ordinary. One after another, it knocks off a variety of tasks designed to test a rodent's mental capacities--and almost invariably learns more quickly, remembers what it learns for a longer time and adapts to changes in its environment more flexibly than a normal mouse...
...mostly in the forebrain and hippocampus (where explicit, long-term memories are formed). The researchers spliced the gene that creates NR2B into the DNA of ordinary mouse embryos to create the strain they called Doogie. Then they ran the mice through a series of standardized tests--sort of a rodent sat. In one, the mice were given a paw shock while in a box; after a few rounds, they showed signs of fear from just being in the box, having learned that a shock was likely to follow. They learned in similar fashion to be afraid when a bell sounded...
...smarter mouse. "What is it that is being tested?" asks Gerald Fischbach, director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. "That's the problem with mouse behavior. It's not clear that we're talking about the same thing when we talk about learning in a rodent and learning in a human...
...case, Princeton, where a team of researchers have modified a single gene to produce smarter mice. According to a study to be published in Thursday's edition of Nature, mice whose brains were made to produce more of the protein NR2B became more adept at those traditional benchmarks of rodent intelligence, recognizing previously encountered Lego blocks and realizing when they are about to get an electric shock. The researchers essentially increased the ability of the mice to learn by strengthening the synaptic connections in their brains...
...amusement for marksmen of considerable moose hunting prowess. Aspiring trophy hunters and greenhorns of Harvard Yard, take note: Grey squirrel season opened October 17, with a bag limit of five. In addition, legal hunting hours commence 30 minutes before sunrise, so it is even possible to plug a chattering rodent prior to 9 a.m. Chem class...