Eyeblink Test Successful In Pigs Despite Subjects Napping And Winking Throughout Study
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Researchers overcome winking, napping pigs to prove brain test works
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Pigs’ brain size and digestive system are excellent analogs for human newborns
Before humans can benefit from new drug therapies and nutritional additives, scientists test their safety and efficacy in animals, typically mice and rats. But, as much as they ve done for biomedical research, rodents aren t always the best research model for studies on neonatal brain development and nutrition. That s where pigs can play an important role.
University of Illinois researchers say the domestic pig is ideal for these studies because their brain size, rate of development, and digestive system are excellent analogs for human newborns.
They know a lot about pig brains, having built the first - and recently, the second - complete, MRI-based atlases of the organ. They ve used the first to study the effects of numerous nutritional interventions in pigs. But some critics say they can t be sure those outcomes reflect reality. After all, these research subjects are raised in carefully controlled e
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IMAGE: Using a newly developed pig brain atlas, University of Illinois researchers show no major differences in pig brain development between pigs in artificial rearing environments vs. sow rearing. The discovery. view more
Credit: Lauren D. Quinn, University of Illinois
URBANA, Ill. - Before humans can benefit from new drug therapies and nutritional additives, scientists test their safety and efficacy in animals, typically mice and rats. But, as much as they ve done for biomedical research, rodents aren t always the best research model for studies on neonatal brain development and nutrition. That s where pigs can play an important role.
University of Illinois researchers say the domestic pig is ideal for these studies because their brain size, rate of development, and digestive system are excellent analogues for human newborns.