Why do furry animals do the “wet dog shake?” (sciworthy.com)
from Joker@sh.itjust.works to science@mander.xyz on 16 Dec 15:21
https://sh.itjust.works/post/29572079

Researchers found mice have special neurons that sense disturbances to their fur, causing them to shake and groom themselves when wet.

#science

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FourPacketsOfPeanuts@lemmy.world on 16 Dec 15:37 next collapse

Doesn’t everything we do have “special neurons”. Isn’t that what neurons are for? Isn’t the fact that neurons trigger this behaviour entirely not special?

OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca on 16 Dec 15:51 collapse

I think they mean ‘special’ like ‘dedicated’. There are neurons dedicated to this job. They are special amongst other neurons.

FourPacketsOfPeanuts@lemmy.world on 16 Dec 16:23 collapse

Mice have something like 70 million neurons in their brain. They’re not exactly engaging in abstract thought. Everything a mouse does easily has hundreds of thousands of dedicated neurons…

Just seems like the usual pop sci sensational title nonsense…

AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world on 16 Dec 17:12 collapse

My guess is that shaking dry is most effective if done at a speed too fast for normal motor control, so there’s a dedicated neural circuit that bypasses the motor cortex.