老鼠很喜欢玩捉迷藏

科学家们教老鼠玩捉迷藏，发现它们其实很喜欢玩

Hide and Seek is probably one of the most popular games in the world. You’ve played it, we’ve played it, little Timmy, who always tried to be sneaky and cheat, played it. Even new parents and their relatives get to relive the excitement by playing hide and seek with their children! Besides it being genuinely fun, there is a heap of science backing up how beneficial it is to a developing body and mind. In fact, hide and seek is such a universal game that it transcends all barriers of language, age, and even species.

捉迷藏可能是世界上最受欢迎的游戏之一。你玩过了，我们也玩过了，小蒂米，这个总是想耍滑头的家伙，也玩了。即使是新父母和他们的亲戚也可以和他们的孩子玩捉迷藏来重新体验这种兴奋!除了真正的乐趣外，还有大量的科学研究表明它对身心发展的益处。事实上，捉迷藏是一个非常普遍的游戏，它超越了语言、年龄甚至种族的障碍。

Scientists in Berlin taught rats how to play hide and seek in order to understand their behavior better

柏林的科学家们为了更好地了解老鼠的行为，教它们玩捉迷藏

Image credits: Humboldt-Universität Berlin

Michael Brecht, a Neuroscientist from Humboldt University in Berlin, stumbled upon some YouTube videos of pet owners playing with their rats. Many of them noted that their beloved animals love playing games, including hide-and-seek. Previous research has already concluded that rats enjoy rowdy games, but hide-and-seek is a complex game as it has specific rules and roles.

柏林洪堡大学(Humboldt University)的神经学家迈克尔·布莱希特(Michael Brecht)偶然发现了YouTube上一些宠物主人和老鼠玩耍的视频。他们中的许多人指出，他们心爱的动物喜欢玩游戏，包括捉迷藏。之前的研究已经得出结论，老鼠喜欢吵闹的游戏，但捉迷藏是一个复杂的游戏，因为它有特定的规则和角色。

Image credits: Tambako The Jaguar (not the actual photo)

Brecht, with the help of his colleagues, set up an enclosed 30-square-meter playground with little shelters as well as transparent and opaque boxes. These served as hiding places for the rats. There were also a handful of hiding places for the experiment’s game master, Annika Stefanie Reinhold, as she was the one teaching them the ropes of hide-and-seek.

布莱希特在同事的帮助下，搭建了一个30平方米的封闭操场，操场上有小的遮蔽物，还有透明和不透明的盒子。这些地方用来藏老鼠。实验的游戏大师安妮卡·斯蒂芬妮·莱因霍尔德也有几个藏身处，因为她是教它们捉迷藏的人。

Image credits: Sue (not the actual photo)

Six rats were selected for this experiment. The game began with a rat being put into a lidded box. As soon as Reinhold hides, the box is opened remotely and the rat would jump out to look for her. The rats were rewarded with pats and tickles for finding the game master.

本实验选用6只大鼠。游戏开始时，一只老鼠被放进一个有盖子的盒子里。Reinhold一躲起来，盒子就被远程打开，老鼠就会跳出来找她。老鼠因为找到了游戏的主人而得到了轻拍和挠痒痒的奖励。

Image credits: Marco Nedermeijer (not the actual photo)

Then the roles change—the rat becomes the hider. Reinhold would crouch beside the now open box, letting the rat jump out and go hide in one of the prepared hiding places.

然后角色改变了——老鼠变成了隐藏者。莱因霍尔德会蹲在打开的箱子旁边，让老鼠跳出来，藏到一个事先准备好的地方。

Image credits: Mike (not the actual photo)

In just 2 weeks of this experiment, five out of six rats knew how to play hide and seek in either of these two roles. They followed the rules of one rat seeking and others hiding and switching between these roles after the seeker has found the hiders.

在短短两周的实验中，六分之五的老鼠知道如何在这两种角色中玩捉迷藏。他们遵循的规则是一只老鼠寻找，另一只老鼠躲藏，并在寻找者找到隐藏者后在这些角色之间转换。

Image credits: David Ascher (not the actual photo)

Most rough and tumble games, which the rats enjoy, do not include such elements as roles, rules and strategy, which, in contrast, is a huge part of hide and seek. This alone hints at how complex rat behavior can actually get. Neural tests also pinpointed the specific areas of the rat’s brain that processes such information as learning rules.

大多数老鼠喜欢的打滚游戏都不包括角色、规则和策略等元素，而这些元素恰恰是捉迷藏的重要组成部分。仅这一点就暗示了老鼠行为的复杂性。神经测试还确定了老鼠大脑中处理学习规则等信息的特定区域。

Image credits: Mariposa Veterinary Wellness Center (not the actual photo)

Previous studies on rats also support the complexity of their brain. Another study—also covered by Bored Panda—has shown that rats are capable of expressing empathy towards other rats. The behaviors studied in this experiment involved one rat releasing another one from an enclosure. One case even records the saving rat also sharing its chocolate treat with the saved one.

先前对老鼠的研究也证实了它们大脑的复杂性。另一项研究——也被Bored Panda报道了——表明老鼠能够对其他老鼠表达同理心。在这个实验中，一只老鼠从笼子里放出另一只老鼠。其中一个案例甚至记录了施救的老鼠和被救的老鼠一起分享巧克力。

Image credits: Tambako The Jaguar (not the actual photo)

When asked whether the rats are doing this for fun, or because they are treated to a pet and a tickle, Brecht explained that the rats were jumping out of joy—something many mammals do when they are happy. They would also run off to a new hiding spot after being found without receiving a reward, thus prolonging the game. So, who said science can’t be fun?

当被问及这些老鼠这么做是为了好玩，还是因为它们被当做宠物或被挠痒痒时，布莱希特解释说，这些老鼠是出于高兴而跳了出来——许多哺乳动物在高兴时都会这么做。他们还会在没有得到任何奖励的情况下跑到一个新的隐藏地点，从而延长游戏时间。那么，谁说科学不可以很好玩呢。