Mice are very harmless animals and are dangerous perhaps what the deadly diseases can carry. But recently, American scientists were completely accidentally able to turn these rodents in ferocious predators, which fiercely hunt for other lively creatures and literally tear them into parts. The discovery was made in the course of scientific work, within which the researchers just studied the brain of animals. It turned out that in the so-called almond-shaped body there is a group of neurons, when the mice are activated, hunting instincts are exacerbated and physical strength increases. It can be said that mice turn into some "halkov" from the Marvel Comic Universe. But how is it possible?
The almond-shaped body is small areas located on the brain sides. There are two of them, one in every hemisphere. This area is responsible for the formation of various emotions, especially fear.
Features of the brain
As part of the scientific work, researchers from the American state Connecticut wanted to explore how the brain of mice controls the work of various organs. In their almond bodies, proteins that are sensitive to light have been introduced. This allowed scientists to activate various neurons in the almond-shaped bodies of mouse brains, simply by visiting them a laser. During the experiment, the researchers have noticed that if you enjoy two specific groups of neurons, mice becomes aggressive. Previous studies of other scientists have already argued that the size of the almond-shaped body often affects the level of animal aggression. This experiment once again confirmed.
When scientists have shone a laser on these neurons, laboratory mice began to behave like a zombie from the "Walking Dead" series. As soon as a certain area of the almond body has activated, the mice began to fall into everything that falls into their field of view. It is important to note that rodents were interested not only by living objects, but also conventional items. As soon as the mouse has grabbed the "sacrifice," she literally ruined her apart. Who were the victims of laboratory mice, not specified. But they did not pounce on each other, but they attacked only strangers.
In the course of further work, researchers have observed a few more features of the unusual behavior of mice. They noticed that the hungry individuals attacked the victims more active than the full. This means that their aggression is directly related to the desire to extract food. When exposed to a certain section of the brain, the hunting instinct excesses, which in addition leads to an increase in the force of compression of the jaws. If you speak briefly, the neuron beam can be divided into one: the first activates the desire to extract food, and the second - increases physical strength. If you shine a laser only for the first plot, the mouse caught the sacrifice, but it will not be able to bite him.
Read also: Can two different predators help each other in the hunt?
Influence on the human brain
Scientists hope that the experiment carried out will help them understand the evolution of hunting instincts in animals. But fiction lovers certainly overcomes another question - do scientists really create something like a hulk from Marvel comic? The experiment has explicitly proves that yes, the theory is possible. In general, intervening in the work of the brain, you can change the character of a person and even erase some memories to him. But science is not yet developed as well, so it is still very far from creating such technologies.
The creation of approximately such technology is currently doing Neuralink, which was founded by Ilona Mask. In the second half of 2020, he demonstrated the work of "Device to read the thoughts", which could trace the activity of the pig brain. The choice fell on this animal, because it is very similar to a person and "also likes to eat." During a special presentation, even a chip was shown, which is implanted into the brain and is charged by contactless way. More information about this technology "chipping" can be read on this link.
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In general, scientists often follow the behavior of mice during various experiments. In 2019, I already talked about how researchers NASA studied the behavior of rodents in the condition of weightlessness. If we speak short, then they behave very strange. This unusual phenomenon can be read in this material. Enjoy reading!