Play is an instinct that unites species

In the animal kingdom, play has many functions from motor development and social learning to bonding and cognitive stimulation. (Envato Elements pic)
PARIS : Imagine a rat hiding under a plastic box while a human searches for it, then erupting with joy when it's been found. This is not a scene from the 'Ratatouille' movie, but the protocol of a study published in 2019 in the journal Science.
Neuroscientists at Humboldt University of Berlin succeeded in teaching six young rats to play hide-and-seek.
To begin with, the researchers let them explore their playground, a 30-square-metre room dotted with boxes and partitions serving as hiding places.
Before the experiment began, researcher Annika Reinhold had accustomed the rodents to her presence by stroking them, tickling them and chasing them with her hands.
She then taught them the role of the seeker: to do this, she would lock a rat in a box, go and hide in a corner of the room, then reward it with tickles if it came to join her.
When a rat was free from the start, it was up to the animal to play hide-and-seek. It then had to quickly choose a hiding place and stay there quietly until being discovered.
The study showed that rats can effectively learn how to play hide-and-seek. Better still, they understand the rules, choose strategic hiding places – the most opaque, the most discreet – and know how to make themselves go unnoticed by remaining silent.
And when the moment comes to be discovered, they erupt with joy, leaping with gusto and uttering the little ultrasonic vocalisations typical of pleasure.
The rats also tend to prolong the game. As soon as they're discovered, they immediately scurry off to hide elsewhere, as if to restart the game. They even postpone the moment of reward stroking, obviously preferring to keep the game going a little longer.
For them, play is a social activity, a voluntary activity and clearly a source of pleasure.
Play is much more than just a way of letting off steam; it's a powerful tool for building relationships. (Envato Elements pic)
Play as a sign of intelligence
In apes, play becomes strategy. Researchers from the University of California Los Angeles, the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour, Indiana University, and the University of California San Diego, identified playful behaviours that are surprisingly similar to those of human children.
The young monkeys have fun provoking adults, poking them, waiting for their reaction… then doing it again, as if anticipating the effects of their actions.
In a study published in 2024 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the scientists suggest that this taste for teasing is anything but trivial. It may be a sign of the existence, in humankind's last common ancestor, of the cognitive prerequisites necessary for playful teasing.
After all, playing the clown can be a complex business. It implies understanding the other person, anticipating their reactions, and wanting to maintain a bond.
In this respect, play is much more than just a way of letting off steam; it's a powerful tool for building relationships.
For primatologist Frans de Waal, these playful jousts reinforce social hierarchies while strengthening group cohesion. In short, apes, like humans, play to help them live better together.
The natural history of animals abounds in observations of games. Play is widespread among mammals, but less common among birds, with the exception of corvids, where it is clearly evident.
In a study published in 2019 in the journal Current Biology, American and Australian researchers claim that New Caledonian crows derive pleasure from manipulating objects, which improves their mood and optimism – a cognitive experience reminiscent of our own taste for intellectual challenges.
Whether it's elephants having a friendly tussle, or crows gliding across snow-covered rooftops, many animals love to play, mostly out of sheer pleasure. (Envato Elements pic)
An evolutionary drive for play
Rats, great apes, crows… the list of playful animals grows longer as research continues. But why do so many species play?
No doubt because play has many functions, from motor development and social learning to bonding and cognitive stimulation.
Neuroscience suggests that the brains of mammals and certain birds are 'programmed' to play.
Experiments with dolphins and crows have shown that the most playful individuals are also the most curious, the most adaptable, and sometimes even the most innovative.
This suggests that play is a gateway to creativity and problem-solving.
But play can also be about having fun. Whether it's dolphins surfing the waves for no apparent purpose, elephant calves chasing each other around a tree trunk, or crows gliding across snow-covered rooftops, many animals love to play, mostly out of sheer pleasure.
Owners of cats, dogs and even rodents are well aware of this. As are scientists, who have observed this behaviour in fish, frogs, lizards and birds.
But what about insects? Are their cognitive capacities sufficiently developed for them to want to have fun?
Apparently so, according to a study published in 2022 in the journal Animal Behaviour. It showed that bumblebees enjoy rolling wooden balls for no reason or reward – just for the fun of it.
Perhaps play is not a luxury reserved for superior species, but an evolutionary necessity rooted in the biology of living things, whether it's a kitten bouncing around, a dog wagging its tail when it sees a ball, or even a magpie playing with a cork.
These innocuous moments speak volumes about the emotional and cognitive richness of the animal world. And they remind humans that pleasure is a universal language.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Malay Mail

10 hours ago

• Malay Mail

Warming planet, wheezing people: How climate change is triggering an allergy crisis

PARIS, June 20 — Runny nose, itching eyes, worsening asthma symptoms — the effects of hay fever are nothing to sneeze at, experts say, warning of an 'explosion' of allergies as climate change lengthens and intensifies pollen seasons. The UN's World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has found that a shifting climate has already begun altering the production and distribution of pollen and spores. As winter frost thaws earlier and spring weather gets warmer, plants and trees flower earlier, extending the pollen season, numerous studies have shown. Air pollution can also increase people's sensitivity to allergens, while invasive species are spreading into new regions and causing fresh waves of allergies. More and more people, particularly in industrialised nations, have reported developing allergy symptoms in recent decades. Around a quarter of adults in Europe suffer from airborne allergies, including severe asthma, while the proportion among children is 30 to 40 per cent. That figure is expected to rise to half of Europeans by 2050, according to the World Health Organisation. 'We're in crisis because allergies are exploding,' said Severine Fernandez, president of the French Allergists' Union. Whereas previously an allergic person would endure only what is commonly known as hay fever, albeit sometimes for years, 'now that person can become asthmatic after one or two years', Fernandez said. Climate change affects allergy patients in multiple ways, according to a 2023 report by the WMO. — Picture by Raymond Manuel 'Irritant pollen' Climate change affects allergy patients in multiple ways, according to a 2023 report by the WMO. Rising levels of carbon dioxide, one of the main heat-trapping gases produced by burning fossil fuels, boost plant growth, in turn increasing pollen production. Air pollution not only irritates the airways of people exposed, but it also causes stress to plants, which then produce more 'allergenic and irritant pollen'. Nicolas Visez, an aerobiologist at the University of Lille, said each plant species reacted differently to a variety of factors such as water availability, temperature and CO2 concentrations. Birch trees for example will wither as summers get hotter and drier, while the heat causes a proliferation of ragweed, a highly allergenic invasive plant. 'There's no doubt that climate change is having an effect,' Visez said. In a study published in 2017, researchers projected that ragweed allergies would more than double in Europe by 2041-2060 as a result of climate change, raising the number of people affected from 33 million to 77 million. The authors suggested that higher pollen concentrations as well as longer pollen seasons could make symptoms more severe. A bee feeds on the nectar and pollen of a scarlet powder-puff wildflower at Eaton Canyon in Pasadena, California June 3, 2023. A Europe-wide 'AutoPollen' programme under development aims to provide real-time data on the distribution of pollen and fungal spores. — AFP pic Allergy action A Europe-wide 'AutoPollen' programme under development aims to provide real-time data on the distribution of pollen and fungal spores. In Switzerland, a tie-up with MeteoSwiss allows patients and doctors to match personal allergy profiles with maps of specific allergens throughout the country. In parts of France, authorities have planted 'pollinariums', gardens packed with the main local allergen species. These provide information on the very first pollen released into the air so that people can start taking antihistamines and other protective measures in a timely manner. 'Hazelnuts have started to bloom as early as mid-December, which wasn't the case before,' said Salome Pasquet, a botanist with the association behind the pollen gardens. 'That's really because we've had very mild winters, so flowering has come earlier,' she said. Some countries are taking an interventionist approach — cutting off the pollen at the source. In Japan, the government announced a plan in 2023 to combat allergies caused by the archipelago's many cedar trees, which includes felling cedars to replace them with species that produce less pollen. Countries in Europe are also more mindful of species in the environment, both native ones that have been planted and invasive newcomers like ragweed. Preference is given to species with a lower allergenic potential, such as maple or fruit trees. 'The idea is not to stop planting allergenic species,' Pasquet said, but to be mindful of creating diversity and avoiding having 'places where there are rows of birch trees, as was the case a few years ago'. It was birch trees in a client's garden that originally set off symptoms for Simon Barthelemy, an architect who lives near Paris. 'I had a major eye allergy, and it's been a recurring problem every year since,' he said. 'I'm on antihistamines, but if I don't take them I get itchy eyes, I'm very tired, I cough... I can't sleep at night.' — AFP

New Straits Times

3 days ago

• New Straits Times

Longer exposure, more pollen: climate change worsens allergies

RUNNY nose, itching eyes, worsening asthma symptoms – the effects of hay fever are nothing to sneeze at, experts say, warning of an "explosion" of allergies as climate change lengthens and intensifies pollen seasons. The UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has found that a shifting climate has already begun altering the production and distribution of pollen and spores. As winter frost thaws earlier and spring weather gets warmer, plants and trees flower earlier, extending the pollen season, numerous studies have shown. Air pollution can also increase people's sensitivity to allergens, while invasive species are spreading into new regions and causing fresh waves of allergies. More and more people, particularly in industrialised nations, have reported developing allergy symptoms in recent decades. Around a quarter of adults in Europe suffer from airborne allergies, including severe asthma, while the proportion among children is 30 to 40 per cent. That figure is expected to rise to half of Europeans by 2050, according to the World Health Organization. "We're in crisis because allergies are exploding," said Severine Fernandez, president of the French Allergists' Union. Whereas previously an allergic person would endure only what is commonly known as hay fever, albeit sometimes for years, "now that person can become asthmatic after one or two years", Fernandez said. Climate change affects allergy patients in multiple ways, according to a 2023 report by the WMO. Rising levels of carbon dioxide, one of the main heat-trapping gases produced by burning fossil fuels, boost plant growth, in turn increasing pollen production. Air pollution not only irritates the airways of people exposed, but it also causes stress to plants, which then produce more "allergenic and irritant pollen." Nicolas Visez, an aerobiologist at the University of Lille, said each plant species reacted differently to a variety of factors such as water availability, temperature and CO2 concentrations. Birch trees for example will wither as summers get hotter and drier, while the heat causes a proliferation of ragweed, a highly allergenic invasive plant. "There's no doubt that climate change is having an effect," Visez said. In a study published in 2017, researchers projected that ragweed allergies would more than double in Europe by 2041-2060 as a result of climate change, raising the number of people affected from 33 million to 77 million. The authors suggested that higher pollen concentrations as well as longer pollen seasons could make symptoms more severe. A Europe-wide "AutoPollen" programme under development aims to provide real-time data on the distribution of pollen and fungal spores. In Switzerland, a tie-up with MeteoSwiss allows patients and doctors to match personal allergy profiles with maps of specific allergens throughout the country. In parts of France, authorities have planted "pollinariums", gardens packed with the main local allergen species. These provide information on the very first pollen released into the air so that people can start taking antihistamines and other protective measures in a timely manner. "Hazelnuts have started to bloom as early as mid-December, which wasn't the case before," said Salome Pasquet, a botanist with the association behind the pollen gardens. "That's really because we've had very mild winters, so flowering has come earlier," she said. Some countries are taking an interventionist approach – cutting off the pollen at the source. In Japan, the government announced a plan in 2023 to combat allergies caused by the archipelago's many cedar trees, which includes felling cedars to replace them with species that produce less pollen. Countries in Europe are also more mindful of species in the environment, both native ones that have been planted and invasive newcomers like ragweed. Preference is given to species with a lower allergenic potential, such as maple or fruit trees. "The idea is not to stop planting allergenic species," Pasquet said, but to be mindful of creating diversity and avoiding having "places where there are rows of birch trees, as was the case a few years ago." It was birch trees in a client's garden that originally set off symptoms for Simon Barthelemy, an architect who lives near Paris. "I had a major eye allergy, and it's been a recurring problem every year since," he said. "I'm on antihistamines, but if I don't take them I get itchy eyes, I'm very tired, I cough... I can't sleep at night."

Free Malaysia Today

5 days ago

• Free Malaysia Today

Uni degrees: should value be measured in more than financial returns?

While salary is a tangible indicator, it is far from the only one that can be used to assess the value of a university degree. (Envato Elements pic) PARIS : Move over physics, chemistry, economics or law – these days, you can study far more unusual topics, such as bowling-industry management, the science of beer, parapsychology, or even the sociology of celebrity, with Lady Gaga, Beyoncé or Move over physics, chemistry, economics or law – these days, you can study far more unusual topics, such as bowling-industry management, the science of beer, parapsychology, or even the sociology of celebrity, with Lady Gaga, Beyoncé or Taylor Swift as the subject. In the US and the UK, these surprising courses are flourishing on campuses. But behind their originality, they also attract criticism – for some, they are pure 'Mickey Mouse degrees', that is, diplomas deemed pointless, of poor value, or even absurd given their apparently uselessness in the job market. A new study now sheds a more nuanced light on the matter, highlighting criteria for professional success that go beyond financial returns. Conducted in the UK, this research analysed the responses of over 67,500 graduates of the 2018-2019 academic year, questioned 15 months after the end of their studies via the major national 'Graduate Outcomes' survey. The aim was to look beyond figures on income and to focus on graduates' professional experiences. Is their job meaningful for them? Does it match their aspirations? And are they using the skills they acquired at university? Professional satisfaction The results may surprise those who take a purely financial approach: 86% of young people surveyed felt that their work was meaningful, 78% felt that it corresponded with their future plans, and 66% said they were using the skills they had acquired during their studies. These figures call into question the idea that only financially 'profitable' degrees have value. No university programme deliberately sets out for its students to fail. (Envato Elements pic) Of course, professionally oriented courses such as medicine, veterinary science or teaching all score highly, particularly in terms of their relevance to the demands of the profession. But when the data is cross-referenced with social origin, gender or educational background, many of the gaps between vocational and generalist fields of study start to narrow. In other words, no university course condemns its students to failure. Even the courses most maligned in the public debate – social sciences, communications, arts – generate a genuine sense of professional satisfaction. And this is an aspect that rankings based solely on income all too often overlook. The researchers acknowledge, however, that their work is limited to the first 15 months post-graduation and does not allow them to track salary trajectories or long-term job stability. But it does provide an unprecedented and representative snapshot of early professional life by field of study. As such, it might be time to move beyond the perception of degrees in terms of financial returns. Choosing a course of study out of passion, affinity or intellectual curiosity is not a mistake: it can be the path to a fulfilling and useful career. To denigrate the humanities and social sciences is also to undermine an entire sector of culture, which is vital and already under strain. The real question, then, is not how much a degree can earn you, but what it can help build – for you, personally, and for society.