Hannah Chin

You cut a leaf or if you damage the plant in a different way.

And Sasha, this is just one of multiple ways that plants have really evolved to defend themselves.

If you think about the thorns of a rose or the spines of a cactus or bitter, poisonous leaves, or I guess in this case, this strategy, right?

Calling in some aerial reinforcements from the insect world.

Yes, exactly.

So in this case, the reward was artificially sweetened water, which for what it's worth is also something that humans appreciate.

Well, one was the classic Pavlovian cue.

They were learning that certain sounds meant a reward was coming.

And they also had to learn harder things like pulling a joystick or turning a tiny steering wheel right or left to get a reward.

Yeah, well, we don't know the whole picture, but Josh and his colleagues think it has something to do with dopamine and engagement, right?

Dopamine is a chemical that makes you feel good, and then your brain is like, oh, I want to do that again.

And when the mice got these big rewards, they got a bigger burst of dopamine.

And the scientists say that lasted longer and kept them more engaged than these little rewards.

They also pointed out there might be other factors at play, not just dopamine.

Which is a pretty big deal, right?

Because having an effective mosquito repellent isn't just good for avoiding itchy bites.

It also saves lives.

Mosquitoes can spread really deadly diseases like malaria.

So this is Clément Vidanger.

He's a neuroethologist at Virginia Tech who worked on the study, which was published recently in the Journal of Experimental Biology.