Can Rats Hear Human Voices?
WouterCan rats hear human voices? The answer is probably not a resounding yes, but that is not to say that they can’t. Interestingly, Spanish neuroscientists have proven that trained rats can recognize language and its distinctive intonations. This ability to understand rhythms is important in learning language. It is also worth noting that rats have been human companions for over two centuries. In the 1800s, fancy rats were used as pets and in shows to separate them from street rats.
Although rats are smaller than dogs, they are highly intelligent. They’re known for their quick learning and can process concepts. Despite their small size, rats have been shown to respond to human voices through a variety of behaviors, including high-pitched squeaks. A happy rat may lick the owner’s hand, softly chatter its teeth, or growl and purr when it’s in a playful mood.
The range of human hearing is approximately 20 kilohertz (hertz). Rats can’t hear frequencies above 20,000 hertz, but they do hear sounds in the range of twenty to fifty-kilohertz. They’re sensitive to these frequencies and use them to locate food sources, communicate with each other, and find their way around.
In the first study, rats were subjected to an auditory discrimination test. In this task, they listened to different tones in different frequencies and plotted their responses on a graph. In both tests, the slope of the plot was steeper at higher frequencies than it was at lower frequencies.
