Driving Rats: Steering Toward Neuroscience Discoveries

Giving drivers education a whole new meaning!

Drive yourself, let mass transit steer you or take whatever transportation is necessary to help you arrive at your destination: the Science Museum for our next Sunrise Science event! Dr. Kelly Lambert, Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Richmond, has turned over the keys … to rats. You read that correctly: her team taught the small, furry, long-tailed mammals to drive “Rodent-Operated Vehicles” in a brain study.

Yield to your curiosity and stop in on March 18 as Dr. Lambert walks through her rodent-training research and explains why it’s important for humans on and off the road.

Dr. Lambert is a behavioral neuroscientist interested in experience-based neuroplasticity. She and her students use preclinical animal models to learn more about the neurobiology of stress, resilience, depression, parenting and natural enrichment.

In addition to publishing more than 80 research articles, Dr. Lambert has published two textbooks and three mainstream books. Her work has been featured on several news outlets such as National Geographic Radio Show, Big Picture Science, To the Best of our Knowledge, WIRED and CBS Sunday Morning.

Buckle up for a neuroscientific departure from your morning commute. You have the green light for discovery!