Sergio Pellis News Today

THE WASHINGTON POST – Play during both childhood and adulthood is important for the healthy functioning of humans and other species, but why we play – the brain circuitry behind this behaviour – is poorly understood. A new study in Neuron has identified groups of cells in the rat brain that may provide clues to […]

By inhibiting part of rats’ brain stem, scientists may have found the play center of the brain

Laughter’s seen as one of those things that makes us human, but is laughing solely a human behaviour or do animals laugh too?

The puzzle of play Todays best articles Daily business briefing Solving COVID newsletter Anyone who has ever chucked a tennis ball in the general vicinity of a border collie knows that some animals take play very seriously. The intense stare, the tremble of anticipation, the apparent joy with every bounce, all in pursuit of inedible prey that tastes like the backyard. Dogs are far from the only animals that devote considerable time and energy to play. Juvenile wasps wrestle with hive mates, ott...

The Atlantic Scientists think it’s valuable, but they’re not quite sure why. Millennium Images / Gallery Stock Anyone who has ever chucked a tennis ball in the general vicinity of a border collie knows that some animals take play very seriously—the intense stare, the tremble of anticipation, the apparent joy with every bounce, all in pursuit of inedible prey that tastes like the backyard. Dogs are far from the only animals that devote considerable time and energy to play. Juvenile wasps w...