“I smell a rat!” these famous words were spoken by Patrick Henry in 1787 as a way to point out that someone did something wrong. The stereotypical view of rats is obviously one of disgust but despite this rats and other rodents do prove to be useful. The rodent brain is quite similar to the human brain even though there are size and organization differences. It is definitely convenient to use rodents rather than other mammals. Also the structure of the two brains is quite similar which is very important in research. The previous studies and findings also justify that the use of rodents for this research does make sense and should continue.
Convenience plays a good role in the use of rodents for bio-psychological research. Rodents are good breeders so there are plenty of samples available and the risk of endangering these species is not a problem. Rodents are also easily maintained, sparing very little expense to the laboratories. Rodents are also mammals so they share some of the main brain structures as humans, which will be further discussed later. The controversy of using animals for research is also important. Sure it is assumed that if not using a great amount of human brains for studies, the next best alternative would be another mammal such as monkeys or chimpanzees. These species, however, aren’t as abundant as rodents and may pose some animal cruelty issues. Other mammals that may be considered are dogs, pigs, bats, whales, elephants, and horse, all of which have the same problems as monkeys and chimps.
The structure of the human and rat brain are quite similar despite the large size difference. The rodent brain has all the same main structures that the human brain contains. These structures consist of the: olfactory bulb, cerebral hemisphere, corpus callosum, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, thalamus, midbrain, pineal gland, pons, medulla, spinal cord and the cerebellum. In addition rodents, also all mammals, have similar types of...