Rats

Recent articles

Snoozing dragons stir up ancient evidence of sleep’s dual nature

Deep-sleep cycling between brain waves of higher and lower amplitude dates far back on the evolutionary tree, according to a new comparative study of mammals and reptiles.

By Lauren Schenkman
29 December 2025 | 0 min watch

Home makeover helps rats better express themselves: Q&A with Raven Hickson and Peter Kind

The “Habitat”—a complex environment with space for large social groups—expands the behavioral repertoire of rodent models, Hickson and Kind say.

By Holly Barker
4 December 2025 | 0 min watch
Research image of serotonin and dopamine expression in rats.

Sex hormone boosts female rats’ sensitivity to unexpected rewards

During the high-estradiol stages of their estrus cycle, female rats learn faster than they do during other stages—and than male rats overall—thanks to a boost in their dopaminergic response to reward, a new study suggests.

By Angie Voyles Askham
26 November 2025 | 5 min read

Hitting city streets to record rat behaviors: Q&A with Emily Mackevicius, Ralph Peterson

Capturing the rodents’ vocalizations and movements in the wild offers an opportunity to study naturalistic behaviors in a complex urban environment, Mackevicius and Peterson say.

By Marta Hill
19 August 2025 | 0 min watch
Peggy Mason at her desk.

Up and out with Peggy Mason

Mason helped define the rodent prosocial behavior field, but now she’s changing course.

By Sydney Wyatt
15 August 2025 | 12 min read
Illustration of a monkey with map-like navigation pinpoints superimposed on its head.

Monkeys build mental maps to navigate new tasks

Cognitive maps, also known as world models, allow animals to imagine novel scenarios based on past experiences.

By Katie Moisse
30 July 2024 | 7 min read
Illustrated portrait of Loren Frank.

The value of math and spatial learning with Loren Frank

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator discusses what drew him to study the brain and his current work at the University of California, San Francisco.

By Brady Huggett
1 April 2024 | 62 min listen
Close up of blood vessels shows probe sticking to vessel wall.

Brain-surgery-free probes can record single-neuron activity

The new devices, which monitor neural activity from within blood vessels, show long-term stability in rats and could one day deliver electrical stimulation.

By Charles Q. Choi
15 August 2023 | 5 min read

‘wildDISCO’ cocktail yields whole-body maps of mouse neurons and more

A new technique used to create see-through rodents can help scientists analyze how the nervous system interacts with other body systems.

By Charles Q. Choi
20 July 2023 | 4 min read
Research image of rodent brain scans.

CRISPR tool rids rodents of oxytocin receptors

The approach provides an “off-the-shelf” way for researchers to compare oxytocin function across species, the team says.

By Angie Voyles Askham
14 June 2023 | 3 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of astrocytes in a mouse brain.

Alzheimer’s disease and autism; and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 12 January.

By Jill Adams
13 January 2026 | 2 min read
A network of connected dots of light hovers inside a translucent human head, with figures in lab coats pointing to it from the foreground.

Computational psychiatry needs systems neuroscience

Dissecting different parallel processing streams may help us understand the mechanisms underlying psychiatric symptoms, such as delusions, and unite human and animal research.

By Michael Halassa
13 January 2026 | 7 min read
Illustration of ants marching back to an anthill.

This paper changed my life: John Tuthill reflects on the subjectivity of selfhood

Wittlinger, Wehner and Wolf’s 2006 “stilts and stumps” Science paper revealed how ants pull off extraordinary feats of navigation using a biological odometer, and it inspired Tuthill to consider how other insects sense their own bodies.

By John Tuthill
12 January 2026 | 7 min read

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