Editing Common degu (section)

== Research subjects ==
[[File:Degu Dolly.jpg|thumb|200px|Common degus are extremely intelligent and have a good ability to solve problems.<ref name="Okanoya 2008 e1860">{{Citation| last1=Okanoya| first1=K.| last2=Tokimoto| first2=N.| last3=Kumazawa| first3=N.| last4=Hihara| first4=S.| last5=Iriki| first5=A.| year=2008| title=Tool-Use Training in a Species of Rodent: The Emergence of an Optimal Motor Strategy and Functional Understanding| journal=PLOS ONE| volume=3| pages=e1860| doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0001860| pmid=18365015| issue=3| pmc=2268009| last6=Ferrari| first6=Pier Francesco| bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.1860O|editor1-last=Ferrari| editor1-first=Pier Francesco| doi-access=free}}</ref> This individual has a much shorter tail than normal.]]
Common degus are research subjects due to their relationship with sugar and diabetes, but are also studied for a variety of other reasons.
[[Neuroscientist]]s at the [[RIKEN|Riken Institute]] in [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]], used common degus for research into tool use in animals with good eye-and-paw coordination, in which they spontaneously learned to use a tiny rake to retrieve out-of-reach seeds.<ref name="Okanoya 2008 e1860"/> Common degus have also been found to spontaneously stack objects in order of decreasing size. In both cases, it is the first time these behaviours have been recorded in animals other than apes and birds.<ref>{{Citation| last1=Tokimoto| first1=N.| last2=Okanoya| first2=K.| year=2004| title=Spontaneous construction of "Chinese boxes" by degus (''Octodon degus''): A rudiment of recursive intelligence?| journal=Japanese Psychological Research| volume=46| pages=255–261| doi=10.1111/j.1468-5584.2004.00257.x| issue=3| doi-access=free}}</ref>

Another area of common degu research is [[circadian rhythm]] function, i.e., the ability of the brain to tell what time of day it is. Degus have the ability to show both [[Diurnality|diurnal]] and [[nocturnal]] rhythms if the environment permits.<ref>{{Citation| last2=Edgar| first2=D. M.| last1=Kas| first1=M. J. H.| s2cid=18503215| year=2000| title=Photic phase response curve in ''Octodon degus'': Assessment as a function of activity phase preference| journal=American Journal of Physiology| volume=278| issue=5| pages=R1385–1389|pmid=10801311| doi=10.1152/ajpregu.2000.278.5.R1385| doi-access=free}}</ref> Common degus can take cues that do not relate to day length, such as temperature,<ref>{{Citation| last1=Kas| first1=M.J.| last2=Edgar| first2=D.M.| year=1998| title=Crepuscular rhythms of EEG sleep-wake in a hystricomorph rodent, ''Octodon degus''| journal=J. Biol. Rhythms| volume=13| pages=9–17| doi=10.1177/074873098128999871| pmid=9486839| issue=1| s2cid=32894633}}</ref> [[melatonin]] levels<ref>{{Citation| last1=Morris| first1=L.G.| last2=Tate| first2=B.L.| year=2007| title=Phase response curve to melatonin in a putatively diurnal rodent, ''Octodon degus''| journal= Chronobiol. Int.| volume=24| pages=407–411| doi=10.1080/07420520701420352| pmid=17612940| issue=3| s2cid=13223071}}</ref> and scents from other degus<ref>{{Citation| last1=Jechura| first1=T.J.| last2=Mahoney| first2=M.M.| last3=Stimpson| first3=C.D.| last4=Lee| first4=T.M.| s2cid=7354002| year=2006| title=Odor-specific effects on reentrainment following phase advances in the diurnal rodent, ''Octodon degus''| journal=Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol.| volume=291| pages=R1808–1816| doi=10.1152/ajpregu.00005.2006| issn=0363-6119| pmid=16840658| issue=6}}</ref> to adjust their rhythms.

Common degus are also used in development and aging studies. [[Separation anxiety disorder|Separation anxiety]] caused by separating degu pups from their mother from an early age for periods of half an hour or more can cause developmental and behavioural changes in later life, similar to [[ADHD]] in humans.<ref>{{Citation| last1=Zehle| first1=S.| last2=Bock| first2=J.| last3=Jezierski| first3=G.| last4=Gruss| first4=M.| last5=Braun| first5=K.| year=2007| title=Methylphenidate treatment recovers stress-induced elevated dendritic spine densities in the rodent dorsal anterior cingulate cortex| journal=Dev. Neurobiol.| volume=67| pages=1891–1900| doi=10.1002/dneu.20543| pmid=17874461| issue=14| s2cid=25698865}}</ref> In elderly common degus, [[neural]] markers have been discovered which are similar to those in humans with [[Alzheimer's disease]], which is the first time this has been seen in a [[wild-type]] rodent.<ref>{{Citation| last1=Inestrosa| first1=N.C.| last2=Reyes| first2=A.E.| last3=Chacon| first3=M.A.| last4=Cerpa| first4=W.| last5=Villalon| first5=A.| last6=Montiel| first6=J.| last7=Merabachvili| first7=G.| last8=Aldunate| first8=R.| last9=Bozinovic| first9=F.| last10=Aboitiz| first10=Francisco| year=2004| title=Human-like rodent amyloid-beta-peptide determines Alzheimer pathology in aged wild-type ''Octodon degus''| journal=Neurobiol. Aging| volume=26| pages=1023–8| doi=10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2004.09.016| pmid=15748782| issue=7| s2cid=29644857| display-authors=8}}</ref>