Inside their small furry heads, Stanford rats have brains that are a little bit human.
These rodents any aren’t any smarter than their peers. Their memories aren’t better, and they can’t read, write, play Wordle or do much else that we can do.
But their unique brains – a blend of human and rat cells that talk to each other – are working models of disease that could someday unlock the mysteries of autism, epilepsy, schizophrenia and other severe neurological disorders that are not easily studied in people.
