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Just count on your dog to know if you let him wait longer for his food!
Are you away from home all day or are you giving your dog a little later than usual? A new study suggests that animals have this in mind. The researchers say that they have found clear indications that animals are aware of the time that passes.
According to researchers, their study also addresses people with Alzheimer's disease. For example, people who suffer from this disease often forget that events happened on time. This could be related to the disappearance of functions in the cortex, one of the first areas of the brain affected by the disease. According to the researchers, the experience of the invisible door could help detect the onset of Alzheimer's disease. For example, the experiment can be used to evaluate their perception of time
The experiment
Researchers rely on experiments. For example, a mouse was placed in a physical race wheel in a virtual reality environment. During this test, the mouse must cross a long corridor to reach a door, where it must wait six seconds before the door opens. The mouse can then continue on its way and receive a reward down the hall.
The Invisible Door
After a number of training sessions, the door to the virtual reality environment has become invisible. In the new scenario, however, the mouse always knew where the now invisible door was and was waiting for another six seconds before continuing to receive his reward. "The important point here is that the mouse does not know when the door is open or closed because it is invisible," says researcher James Heys. "The only way for the mouse to effectively solve this task is to use its inner sense of time."
Brain Activity
In the experiment, the researchers also examined the brain activity of the mouse. This is so that they examined the entorinal bark of the brain. It is an area of the temporal lobe related to memory and navigation. Using two-photon microscopy (a method to visualize animal tissue relatively in depth and in detail), the researchers analyzed the neurons of the mouse
. Perception of time
. who seem to be dealing with the perception of time. "As the animal crosses the hallway, some of the cells are activated," says lead author Daniel Dombeck. "Then, when the mouse stops at the door, these same cells are turned off and a new set of cells is activated.This was a big surprise." This latest series of cells only seems to be active when the # Animal is motionless. In addition, these cells also seem to keep track of how long the animal is waiting.
These "time cells" actually function as a kind of internal clock. A special discovery. "It's one of the most compelling experiments to show that animals actually have an explicit representation of time in their brain," Dombeck concludes.
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