By genetically engineering mice, scientists in Japan were able to switch off their fear of cats. The project involved disabling functions of the olfactory bulb in the brain, which receives information about smells directly from the nose. The lesson here is that fear is hardwired into mice and is not a learned behavior. The work also indicates that human response to smells, such as rotten food, may also be hardwired into us as well. The work may also advance new therapies for treating anxiety.

Tokyo University's Ko Kobayakawa says that instead of being immobilized by fear or fleeing on first sight of a cat, the mouse mutants sometimes played with them or sniffed them. The scientists chose a particularly docile cat for their experiment.

- read the article [1] from the National Post

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