In a new laboratory experiment, scientists at the University of Southern California showed that when mice encountered a social partner familiar with the unconscious state caused by anesthesia, they escalated to powerful behaviors such as biting or pulling their partner’s mouth and tongue, showing clear and consistent behavior.
Mice have their own “first aid” practices to help other mice in need. Image credits: Sun et al. , doi: 10.1126/science.adq2677.
“There are many factors that determine mammals’ empathy and social bonds,” says Professor Li Zhang, a researcher at the University of Southern California.
“However, this is the first time this study has seen first responder-like behavior in mice.”
New research shows that mice tend to help other mice they know to be unconscious.
Their responses range from mild sniffing and grooming to more powerful actions such as mouth and tongue biting, and eventually escalates to pulling the tongue out of the unconscious mouse.
“The behavior was particularly unique because it was similar to how humans behave in emergency responses. Dr. Wenzian Sang, PhD of the University of Southern California, said:
Interestingly, scientists were first witnessed rehabilitation behavior in mice paired together in an unrelated study.
When humans encounter unconscious individuals, emergency response changes, such as assessing the situation, checking for responsiveness, seeking help and performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for the individual.
The urgent “helper mice” target the unconscious companion’s mouth and tongue appears to improve their companion’s airways and lead to faster recovery,” said Huizhong Tao, professor at the University of Southern California.
“We learned in this study that tongue pulling between mice cannot be interpreted as an offensive gesture.”
“Social behavior in this study was significantly more pronounced among familiar mouse pairs, and was rarely seen when one of the paired mice was simply sleeping or active.”
“And also, after the unconscious mice regained consciousness, they regularly used their tongues.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5dzd4dpvio
In this study, the authors utilized advanced neuroimaging and optogenetics to investigate the neural mechanisms behind social behavior in helper mice.
“One of the most interesting aspects of our neurologic observations was the discovery of the activation of oxytocin neuropeptides,” Professor Chan said.
“Oxytocin is widely known as a hormone that plays an important role in social bonds.”
“Oxytocin is sometimes called love hormone because it is linked to trust, bonding and affection.”
“This was the first study showing that oxytocin is an important factor in social ties in mice.”
“Our findings not only enhance our understanding of animal behavior, they also highlight the important role of the oxytocin system.
result It will be displayed in the journal Science.
____
Wenjian Sang et al. 2025. Prosocial behaviors like resurrection in response to the unconscious or dead homologue of rodents. Science 387 (6736); doi:10.1126/science.adq2677
Source: www.sci.news
