Bigger Is Not Always Better: Brain Size And Knowledge

Bigger isn't necessarily better, unless you're in Texas.

Recent findings published in the journal Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience show that while intelligent creatures generally have bigger brains, this was not the case when comparing rats and mice. While rats generally have bigger brains, which can show a higher form of intelligence, mice showed similar intelligence levels.

"Mice have the potential to greatly accelerate our research. We didn't want to discount a very powerful option based on anecdotal evidence of their inferiority," said lead study author Prof. Anthony Zador and Santiago Jaramillo, in a news release.

Researchers said their latest findings show significant change in the way of learning and how complex behaviors can be studied. Though they have always preferred rats to mice when studying how the brain makes complex decisions, a number of genetic tools that have recently been available have helped with mice in terms of cognitive research.

"We've found that mice, and all the genetic tools available in them, can be used to study the neural mechanisms underlying decision-making, and they might be suitable for other cognitive tasks as well," Zador concluded.

Auditory experiments revealed that mice and rats performed similarly in their perceptual ability and adaptability. However, the only difference between the two rodents was that rats seemed to learn a bit quicker than mice, according to study results.