Do Rats Have Emotions? | Horizon: The Science of Laughter | BBC Earth Science
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0:03 - 0:09When this man started his career,
his ideas were considered very avantgarde. -
0:12 - 0:18Today however, he has a global reputation
as one of the world's top neurobiologists. -
0:24 - 0:27And all because, he discovered
that he could hear rats squeek. -
0:36 - 0:39You're hearing the squeeking
through the ultrasound detector. -
0:39 - 0:42If we didn't have these detectors on,
you would not be hearing anything. -
0:45 - 0:49Once he'd heard the squeeks,
Panksepp wanted to discover their meaning. -
0:52 - 0:54One morning I woke up and said:
What if that is laughter? -
0:56 - 1:00And I said, then you should
be able to tickle animals. -
1:00 - 1:03And we tickled the first rat
and it chirped like crazy. -
1:04 - 1:11The second rat, and actually every rat
except really neurotic ones, have chirped. -
1:17 - 1:20The casual observer might think,
that the rats aren't laughing at all. -
1:21 - 1:23That their tiny chirps are cries for help.
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1:28 - 1:31But not only are the vocalisations
the same as noises made in play, -
1:32 - 1:34the rats' behaviour speaks for itself.
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1:37 - 1:41They are following my hand because
this hand has brought them great joy. -
1:44 - 1:48Oh, he just bit me!
But he didn't hurt me. -
1:50 - 1:52It's their way of saying:
'C'mon let's play'. -
1:53 - 1:55I love rats.
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1:56 - 2:00They are such fun animals,
so smart and so emotional. -
2:02 - 2:06As far as we can tell,
we have the same basic emotions as rats. -
2:10 - 2:15Panksepp's idea, that rats have emotions,
did not endear him to his colleagues. -
2:17 - 2:22People say, I'm giving human qualities
to animals, it's anthropomorphism. -
2:22 - 2:27But I have not been doing that at all,
I am doing zoomorphism. -
2:27 - 2:33I am trying to understand the animal mind,
as a way to illuminate the human mind. -
2:36 - 2:39Critics argue that our complex brains
are so different to rats' brains, -
2:40 - 2:42that any comparison is meaningless.
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2:44 - 2:48In reality, emotions occur
in the evolutionary ancient brain. -
2:49 - 2:52The part we share with all mammals.
Including rats. -
2:54 - 2:58Animals that were bred for high laughter
are resistant to depression. -
2:59 - 3:05Meaning they have chemistries
protecting them from life's ups and downs. -
3:06 - 3:11Animals that were bred for low laughter
are susceptible to depression. -
3:14 - 3:19If we understand animal emotions
at the fundamental instinctual level, -
3:20 - 3:24We will have a science
of human basic emotions. -
3:24 - 3:27That's very valuable
for understanding ourselves, -
3:28 - 3:31and having a more
sophisticated biological psychiatry. -
3:33 - 3:35Panksepp's idea was
to use the rats' laughter, -
3:35 - 3:40to find which area in the acient brain
is involved in happiness. -
3:40 - 3:44And to then identify
the responsible neurochemistry. -
3:46 - 3:51With his approach, a group from NU
identified a happiness neurotransmitter. -
3:52 - 3:55They call it GLX-13.
Catchy. -
3:56 - 3:59And they've also developed a drug
to stimulate its production. -
3:59 - 4:02In 2013, they began human clinical trials.
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4:04 - 4:08The results were so impressive that
2 years later a drugs company bought it. -
4:08 - 4:11For 560 million dollars.
-
4:12 - 4:16Surprisingly, $560 million isn't bad
-
4:17 - 4:21for buying the rights
to the most powerful item on the horizon. -
4:25 - 4:27It's a new way of treating depression:
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4:27 - 4:31Instead of reducing sadness,
the andtidepressant promotes happiness. -
4:32 - 4:34It's an approach that shows great promise.
-
4:35 - 4:37And all this from tickling rats!
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4:38 - 4:44Rat laughter forces you to think
about the molecules of social joy. -
4:46 - 4:53I am pleased and surprised in retrospect,
that we got that far. -
4:56 - 5:00That's the wonderful thing about science:
there's always surprises.
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