Popular Science – Researchers at Washington State University at Spokane have been trying to come up with another way to treat influenza beyond yearly vaccinations. James Krueger, a professor of physiology at WSU, says they were interested in seeing if sleep could improve recovery from illness.
Nature World News – We hypothesized that administering playful tickles before and/or after routine… injections would reduce the aversiveness of such medical procedures,” co-author Sylvie Cloutier, from Washington State University, wrote in the study. To test this, she and her colleagues tickled some rats before, and others after regular saline injections.
The Daily Mail – Similarly, rats are believed to be able to respond to excitement, fear and anger. They even help each other out with no prospect of a reward, according to Washington State University. The rodents also show that they enjoy being tickled and playing by giggling.