Starvation psychology has different roots as well as varied effects. But when it comes to rats, the animal proves to handle the lack of food with an incredible adaptation psychology. A new research developed by a team of scientists, which would be presented at the American Physiological Society (APS) annual meeting at Experimental Biology 2017 in Chicago, showcases that rats having earlier experiences of limited food resources develop a psychological adaptation technique which gradually helps them to survive and also extend their life whenever they face starvation at a later part,
According to Science Daily, the team of researchers belonging from St. Mary's University in Texas, limited the food resources for a group of adult rats in three different occasions. In the first two instances, the rats demonstrated 20 percent reduction in their body mass and in the third condition, the reduction rate was lifted to 30 percent. But the rats suffering from starvation evolved a new psychology of survival within this three periods.
As per a report by EurekAlert, alongside the above-mentioned conditions, the starving rats also developed lower body temperature as well as lower blood sugar rate than the normally fed and controlled rats. This situation is evident for the rats' psychological adaptation towards the life where they gain energy from the body stored fats. Marshall McCue, the primer author of the study stated that the rats, which were previously exposed to extreme hunger, evolve a "potentially adaptive physiological responses to starvation."
This psychological adaptation can be considered as a game changer to handle starvation and food limitation due to reasonable facts. McCue also welcomed scientists to research and experiment more on such adaptative psychology. He further claimed that the previous periods of extreme hunger "affected the starvation strategies used by the rats." This can also be considered as a strategic technique to overcome starvation.
