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Study Shows Monkeys Like Watching TV

Posted by samzenpus on from the jungle-news-network dept.

According to a Japanese study, monkeys are not immune to the siren call of the idiot box. It seems rhesus monkeys enjoy watching videos of circus animals. From the article: "The study found that when the monkey was witnessing the acrobatic performances of circus animals on a television screen, the frontal lobe area of its brain became vigorously active. The activity in such an area was significant in reflecting the monkey's pleasure, as the human equivalent is a neurological area associated with triggering delight in a baby when it sees the smile of its mother."

5 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. And right now by dread · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hundreds of millions of monkeys are watching other monkeys chasing a ball on TV. And deriving pleasure from it presumably.

    --
    I've had a wonderful time, but this wasn't it -- Groucho Marx
    1. Re:And right now by lgw · · Score: 4, Funny

      Surely the monkey demographic explains the success of Reality TV. Perhaps it seems like science fiction to its biggest audience?

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  2. Well duh. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Have you seen what's on TV these days?

  3. Shall we expand on this a bit? by Rogerborg · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Strap a monkey to a board, stick some electrodes in its brain, then measure how happy it is. Show it some moving images, which distract it from the fact that it's strapped to a board with electrodes stuck in its brain. It gets less unhappy. NOBEL PRIZE!

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    If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
  4. Alternate description: by Desiderius · · Score: 5, Funny

    Study Shows Scientists Like Watching Monkeys Watching TV