The Playful Brain: Venturing to the Limits of Neuroscience

What behaviour qualifies as play, what brain mechanisms are needed to produce play, and of what benefit does play have to our lives? With reference to a range of species, but using the feisty rat as their model, the authors synthesize three decades of empirical research to create the first truly integrated study that appreciates the significance of such previously neglected phenomena as the multi-functionality of play and the differences that exist between species.