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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2: Rats Trained in Foreign Languages

Researchers in Spain have found that rats can hear the difference between languages. The researchers have trained two different groups of rats, one listening to Dutch and the other listening to Japanese. Though the rats cannot understand what is being said, researchers found that they react differently to the languages, depending on which one they learned.

All languages have a different rhythm, like different songs have a different beat. This is the aspect of language which researchers believe made the rats able to tell the difference between Dutch and Japanese.

The researchers used a recorded voice speaking either Dutch or Japanese. These recordings did not make any sense; they were used only for the rhythm of the language. The researchers rewarded the rats with food if they were able to correctly identify the language, which they displayed by pressing a lever. The rats were able to even recognize new sentences in either Dutch or Japanese, which is one of the signs of understanding a language.

Surprisingly, human infants and tamarin monkeys share the same skill. The infant and the monkey, like the rat, cannot speak, but all can react if they recognize the language which is being spoken. The difference between the rats, infant and monkeys are that infants have the ability to imitate the language, and rats do not.

--Written by Amelise Javier

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