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When it comes to sex, it seems that rats - like men - get turned on by sexy lingerie.

In a bizarre study, 12 virgin male rats were given the chance to have sex with female rats wearing special rodent 'bras.'

When the rats were allowed to mate for a second time, the creatures chose to have sex with female rats wearing lingerie, rather than those who were naked.

Sex appeal: In a bizarre study, 12 virgin male rats were allowed to have sex with female rats wearing special rodent 'bras' (pictured). When the rats were given the chance to mate again, the creatures chose to have sex with female rats wearing the lingerie, rather than those who were naked

The study, by Concordia University in Montreal, suggests that, like men, male rats can learn to associate sex with clothing.

Male rats learn that 'each time my partner wears lingerie [a jacket], I'm going to have sex,' co-author Gonzalo R. Quintana Zunino told Tanya Lewis at Live Science.

Professor Zunino explained that when a male rat attempts to have sex, it approaches the female from behind, which causes the female to do a 'wiggling dance'.

The study found that if the female rat was wearing the lingerie, the male rat would feel it with his whiskers.

'Wiggling dance':  Professor Zunino explained that when male rats attempts to have sex, the approach the female from behind, which causes the female to do a wriggling dance

In a second test, virgin males were exposed to both sexually receptive females wearing the jackets and non-sexually receptive females not wearing jackets.

These males were then exposed to two sexually-aroused female rats, one in a 'bra' and one naked, at the same time. 

More of the males ejaculated sooner when mating with the female rats wearing the sexy lingerie.

After they conducted the study, the researchers injected a dye into the rats' brains to show the inner workings.

They found that the males trained to find bra-wearing females attractive showed more neural activity in the pleasure centre of the brain.

The same research team had previously carried out a study with the use of scents, and found they could train rats to prefer to mate with females wearing perfume.

'We have the same brain structure and neurochemistry as our rats,' Dr Jim Pfaus, a professor in the psychology department at the university, told Ed Mazza at the Huffington Post.

'We can see this in studies of brain activation in humans and rats, even though our patterns of copulation appear utterly different.'

The study was presented last month at the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting in Washington.

Strike a pose: The males were exposed to two sexually-aroused, one in a 'bra' and one naked. More of the males ejaculated sooner with the female wearing the sexy lingerie