Rats also have emotions

Mice that spend most of their lives running in narrow caves should have good touch and their mustaches carry out most of this function. What scientists have never known is how sophisticated the mouse is, as well as how it works.

But a study published recently in the journal Neuron , researchers at MIT have found a solution thanks to high-speed video technology. Their device recorded 3,200 images per second, about 100 times faster than home videos.

The mouse mustache works much like a human fingerprint (Photo: MIT)

Scientists already know that about 50 whiskers on the edge of the mouse vibrate, touching objects to determine their shape and surface. High-speed video has detected liquid motion inside the whiskers. This motion signals the mouse brain and the brain will ' translate ' them into tactile information.

The team also found that different types of mustaches transmit different types of signals. Short whiskers at the tip of the muzzle vibrate the fastest and transmit signals with high numbers. The ridge is long, growing at the end of the rat's muzzle vibrating slowly and transmitting low frequency signals."They act like cranes," said Christopher Moore, a scientist at MIT's McGovern Brain Research Institute and co-author of the report.

Mice that are widely used in laboratories and their whiskers work in much the same way as human touch so scientists think it is important to understand how the mouse must identify objects and surfaces.

Although the MIT study uncovers many unknown things about mouse whiskers, scientists still need to study further to understand how the mouse brain decodes and processes information.