Jun 10 2014 : Mirror (Pune)
Rats show regret, once thought to be uniquely human
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New research from the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota reveals that rats show regret, a cognitive behaviour once thought to be uniquely and fundamentally human. Research findings were recently published in Nature Neuroscience.To measure the cognitive behaviour of regret, David Redish, a professor at the University of Minnesota and Adam Steiner, a student who led the study, started from the definitions of regret identified in the past.
“Regret is the recognition that you made a mistake, that if you had done something else, you would have been better off,” said Redish.
“The difficult part of this study was separating
regret from disappointment, which is when things aren’t as good as you would have hoped.The key to distinguishing between the two was letting the rats choose what to do.” Redish and Steiner developed a new task that asked rats how long they were willing to wait for certain foods. “It’s like waiting in line at a restaurant,” said Redish. “If the line is too long at the Chinese restaurant, then you give up and go to the Indian restaurant across the street.” In this task, which they named “Restaurant Row,” the rat is presented with a series of food options but has limited time at each “restaurant.” Research findings show rats were willing to wait longer for certain flavours, implying they
had individual preferences. Because they could measure the rats’ individual preferences, Steiner and Redish could measure good deals and bad deals. Sometimes, the rats skipped a good deal and found themselves facing a bad deal.“In humans, a part of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex is active during regret. We found in rats that recognised they had made a mistake, indicators in the orbitofrontal cortex represented the missed opportunity. Interestingly, the rat’s orbitofrontal cortex represented what the rat should have done, not the missed reward. This makes sense because you don’t regret the thing you didn’t get, you regret the thing you didn’t do,” said Redish.
“Regret is the recognition that you made a mistake, that if you had done something else, you would have been better off,” said Redish.
“The difficult part of this study was separating
regret from disappointment, which is when things aren’t as good as you would have hoped.The key to distinguishing between the two was letting the rats choose what to do.” Redish and Steiner developed a new task that asked rats how long they were willing to wait for certain foods. “It’s like waiting in line at a restaurant,” said Redish. “If the line is too long at the Chinese restaurant, then you give up and go to the Indian restaurant across the street.” In this task, which they named “Restaurant Row,” the rat is presented with a series of food options but has limited time at each “restaurant.” Research findings show rats were willing to wait longer for certain flavours, implying they
had individual preferences. Because they could measure the rats’ individual preferences, Steiner and Redish could measure good deals and bad deals. Sometimes, the rats skipped a good deal and found themselves facing a bad deal.“In humans, a part of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex is active during regret. We found in rats that recognised they had made a mistake, indicators in the orbitofrontal cortex represented the missed opportunity. Interestingly, the rat’s orbitofrontal cortex represented what the rat should have done, not the missed reward. This makes sense because you don’t regret the thing you didn’t get, you regret the thing you didn’t do,” said Redish.
