Reserch on rat's how habit is form | cue-Routain-Reward
In the early 1990s the MIT researchers began wondering if the basal ganglia might be integral to habits as well. They noticed that animals with injured basal ganglia suddenly developed problems bering how to open food containers. They decded to experiment by employing new micro-technologies that allow them to observe, in minute detail, what was occurring within the heads of ratesas they performed dozens of routaines. In surgery, eachrat had what looked like a small joystick and dozens of Tiny wires inserted into its skull. Afterward, the animal was placed into a T-shaped maze with chocolate at one end. The maze was structured so that each rat was positioned behind a partition that opened when a loud click sounded. Initially, when a rat heard the click and saw the partition disappear,it would usually wander up and down the center aisle, sniffing in corners and scratching at walls. It appeared to smell the chocolate, but couldn’t figure out how to find it. When it reac...