The mice on board the International Space Station started “race-tracking” as part of a coordinated group activity.
Scientists have discovered that when sent to space, mice engage in an unusual behavior where they started doing laps of their cage in a “coordinated group activity.”
In a study published in Scientific Reports, Ronca and colleagues describe how they sent two groups of female mice to the ISS—one group was 16 weeks old, the other 32 weeks. These were compared to a control group on Earth. However, after seven to 10 days, the younger group of mice started displaying a “unique circling or ‘race-tracking’ behavior” where they whizzed around the cage at speed. Initially, they moved their bodies along a “ovular trajectory,” and “propelling themselves by pushing off walls with hindlimbs,” the scientists wrote. “This behavior quickly evolved into full circular laps.”
This “organized group circling” behavior, the team says, is unique to mice in space and could have a number of explanations. It could be that the mice are rewarded by the effect of physical exercise, or that they like the sensation of self-motion. However, they say more research will be required to understand why the mice started behaving this way.
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