Council Chronicle

Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Log in
  • National News
  • Business & Economy
  • Technology
  • Science
  • Health
  • About CC
    • Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy GDPR
    • Terms of Use

Pages

  • About Council Chronicle
  • Contact Us
  • Our Team
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Terms of Use

Recent Posts

  • Former Wife of Prolific Arizona Serial Killer Speaks Up First Time after Scottsdale Suicide June 29, 2018
  • Indiana Couple Arrested After Authorities Discovered Cruel Punishment Device in Home June 28, 2018
  • Schizophrenic Oregon Man Who Was Seen Carrying His Mother’s Head Committed to Psychiatric Facility June 27, 2018
  • Texas Lawmen Looking for Four Suspect Who Tortured Child During Home Invasion June 27, 2018
  • Retirement Home Resident Reported Fake Fire to Draw In Firefighters and Shoot Them June 26, 2018
  • Arkansas Man Kills Wife, Sticks Body In Chest Freezer Before Committing Suicide June 26, 2018
  • West Virginia Man Arrested After He Tried to Baptize Family by Drowning Them in the Bathtub June 25, 2018

Prairie Voles Comfort their Distressed Peers in Stressful Situations

January 23, 2016 By Adam Martin 1 Comment

Email, RSS Follow
'prairie voles'

Prairie voles apparently show signs of empathy towards distressed cagemates and partners.

A recent study focused on voles’ ability to show empathy found that prairie voles comfort their distressed loved ones in stressful situations. The research team used electric shocks on one vole to see whether its life-long mate would have a reaction.

Surprisingly, the stressed out vole was consoled by his mate as soon as the two animals were reunited. The vole licked and groomed its suffering partner for nearly 10 minutes in an attempt of relieving its stress.

It is the first time a study documents empathy in voles. Past studies had found signs of empathy in mammals such as dogs, chimps, elephants, and even other rodents. Four years ago, researchers at the University of Chicago found that rats can go at great lengths to free their entrapped mates despite the risk of losing a hearty launch.

Back then, researchers weren’t so sure about the implications of the study. Some of them interpreted the findings as a clear sign that rodents can show empathy, too, while other researchers speculated that rodents were in fact looking for social contact, so they were actually acting selfishly.

But measuring empathy cannot be done objectively. You can measure it or mark its presence from the animals’ behavior. This was the approach chosen by Larry Young and his fellow researchers at Emory University.

Young, who’s been studying voles for years, planned to see whether voles can be emphatic, as well. The team found that the consoling vole will mimic the behavior of its distressed fellow even though it hasn’t been directly affected by the electric shock. Moreover, the consoling creature grooms its afflicted mate in stressful situations, and its stress hormones jump to new levels when it suspects that another shock may affect its partner.

Although some may say that voles groom and lick their mates repeatedly to alleviate stress alone, the team argued that it isn’t the case. Researchers believe that the behavior is a clear sign of empathy in the furry animals because distressed voles do not engage in more grooming following an electric shock.

Other critics argued that the behavior was involuntarily triggered by the shocked vole by releasing pheromones which prompted the consoling vole to have a caring behavior. Study authors dismissed this hypothesis because voles comforted only cagemates or partners, showing no empathy for strangers.

Researchers also found that prairie voles, which lead a monogamous life, display a caring attitude towards their familiar ones, unlike meadow voles, which mate with perfect strangers and show no sign of consolation.

Image Source: Flickr

Email, RSS Follow

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: Emory University, empathy in rodents, prairie voles

Comments

  1. Amy sanderson says

    January 23, 2016 at 13:51

    I wonder when they are going to investigate if humans are capable of empathy towards anyone but themselves.

    You don’t need to torture helpless creatures to find out if they have feelings. Just open your eyes and look around.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 18 other subscribers

Recent Articles

ethics in dictionary highlighted

NIH Will Examine Ethical Problems of One of Their Studies

March 27, 2018 By Adam Martin Leave a Comment

biomutant character

Eleven-Minutes Long Biomutant Trailer Prepares You for Amazing Gameplay and Mechanics

August 26, 2017 By Adam Martin Leave a Comment

intime alibaba

Intime May Be Acquired By Its Founder And Alibaba

January 11, 2017 By Jesse Skelton Leave a Comment

Newborn baby

A Woman Gave Birth to Baby After Fertilizing Frozen Ovary

December 16, 2016 By Lee Raulin Leave a Comment

Parkes radio telescope

Hunting Aliens with Parkes Radio Telescope

November 11, 2016 By Ben Beckstrom Leave a Comment

man suffering from election season stress

Stressed Out? Here Are 7 Ways to Get Rid of Election Season Stress

October 19, 2016 By Adam Martin Leave a Comment

Disney World wants to prevent fraud.

Disney World prevents fraud by scanning children’s fingers

September 8, 2016 By Adam Martin Leave a Comment

artificial intelligence

How will the Artificial Intelligence will affect our life by 2030?

September 3, 2016 By Adam Martin Leave a Comment

opera sync

Opera Sync resets passwords after it was hacked

August 30, 2016 By Adam Martin Leave a Comment

viping

Why are teens viping – flavours or nicotine?

August 26, 2016 By Dustin Smith Leave a Comment

sex abuse

Doctors in sex abuse cases return to work. What happens with their victims?

August 25, 2016 By Adam Martin Leave a Comment

affection

Affection or food – which is more important for a dog?

August 19, 2016 By Adam Martin Leave a Comment

Chipotle restaurant

Chipotle to Open its First Burger Joint

July 30, 2016 By Ben Beckstrom Leave a Comment

Chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A Rolls Out Protein-Packed Grill Breakfast Sandwich

July 20, 2016 By Ben Beckstrom Leave a Comment

Related Articles

  • parasite

    Russian Woman Horrified to Find Out That She Had Parasite Crawling Under Her Skin

    Jun 22, 2018
  • wheelchair

    Birmingham Man Paralyzed From the Waist Down Minutes After Being Cleared by Hospital Staff

    Jun 19, 2018
  • emergency room

    Los Gatos ER Doc Suspended for Mocking Patient Suffering from Anxiety Attack

    Jun 18, 2018
  • soft and hard palate

    Mexico Man Gets Red Spot on Palate After Performing too Much Oral Sex

    Jun 15, 2018
  • Console gaming

    Extended Screen Time, Gaming Linked to Lack of Sleep and Depression in Teens, New Study Reveals

    Jun 6, 2018
  • surgery

    Welsh Woman Commits Suicide After Surgeon Removes Ovaries

    May 30, 2018
  • shower head

    Indian Man Rushed to Hospital With Shower Head in Rectum After Accidental Slip

    May 29, 2018
  • New Delhi Surgeon Suspended.

    New Delhi Surgeon Reprimanded After Operating on the Wrong Patient

    Apr 23, 2018
  • workplace with desks and computers and plants and one man working

    A Noisy Workplace Can Seemingly Lead to Health Problems (Study)

    Apr 10, 2018
  • UVA Health

    Thousands of Patients Records Exposed After Hacker Targets UVA Health Devices

    Feb 23, 2018

Categories

  • Breaking News
  • Business & Economy
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • National News
  • Nature
  • Science
  • Technology
  • World News

Copyright © 2021 CouncilChronicle.com

About · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Contact