Rats cooperate, help each other, just like humans

Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Like humans, rats cooperate. According to a newly published study, rats engage in reciprocal behavior, helping out those who helped them.

In experiments conducted at the University of St. Andrews, researchers found rats were more likely to assist their peers with grooming if the peer shared food.

In the experiment, scientists applied salt water to the necks of rats, a part of the body that's hard to reach, thus requiring grooming assistance. The rats were presented with a mechanism that allowed them to share food with their peers.

They found rats were more likely to assist with grooming if they'd been offered food. The study, published in the journal Current Biology, showed rats were also more likely to share food with those who'd helped them groom.

"We found the rats traded these two services among each other according to the decision rules of direct reciprocity, e.g. 'I help you because you helped me,'" neuroscientist Manon Schweinfurth said in a news release.

It's been previously suggested that human cooperation requires complex cognition and uses up too much brain energy. But while human cooperation may take on complex forms, the latest research suggests reciprocal behavior is not limited by brain size or complexity. Previous studies have shown that even bees engage in a basic form of reciprocal behavior.

"This result indicates that reciprocal trading among non-human animals may be much more widespread than currently assumed," Schweinfurth said. "It is not limited to large-brained species with advanced cognitive abilities."