Mice Do First Aid On Their Unconscious Friends
When mice find a fellow member of their species unconscious, they appear to administer first-aid by licking at the face or pulling at the mouth and tongue.
More aggressive biting, licking, and mouth-pulling behaviors were observed in mice that had spent more time with the unconscious mouse, leading to faster recovery time.
“The most striking discovery in this study is the existence of instinctive emergency responses in animals to revive unconscious—and even freshly deceased—partners.
This study provides the first documented evidence of resuscitation-like behavior in naive, untrained mice,” said Wenjian Sun, the lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Southern California.
A number of species, such as elephants, dolphins, and non-primate humans, have been seen helping out injured or sick individuals.
These helpful behaviors include grooming, touching, nudging, and even striking in some cases. But tongue biting and tongue pulling have not been reported before.
In the new study, the researchers described the reactions of dozens of mice after being introduced to a companion in need of help.
The other mouse was either stressed or unconscious. The mice spent more time in physical contact with the other mouse if it was unconscious rather than awake.
They spent an average of 47 percent of the 13-minute test interacting with an unconscious fellow mouse. Over the test period, grooming behaviors increased in intensity, from sniffing and licking to biting at the mouth and tongue. More aggressive actions were seen in pairs who were more familiar with each other.
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Around 50 percent of the mice pulled at the tongues of their unconscious companions. The mice also had the ability to detect that their companion was unconscious without using visual cues. Even in the dark, they engaged in grooming behaviors.
The more intense grooming behaviors resulted in better recovery of the unconscious mice. They returned to consciousness more quickly. When their companion came to, the first-aider mouse stopped the grooming behaviors.
“The animal appears to be able to recognize the unconscious state of its partner, with the unresponsiveness triggering the behavior and regaining of responsiveness terminating the behavior,” said Sun.
Overall, the findings suggest that mice have an instinct to help others like humans do, but it is unclear exactly why they act in this way.
It is possible that the instinct was something that had evolved over time instead of being a conscious decision to revive a companion.
According to the research, the grooming is likely caused by the release of oxytocin, a hormone that is important in social bonding, reproduction, and childbirth.
The hormone is released in the brain areas known as the amygdala and hypothalamus. In the future, more work will focus on identifying the role oxytocin plays in mice behavior.
The study was published in the journal Science.
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