Thursday, February 12, 2009

Nice mice

Mouse study reveals genetic component of empathy

From the report:
In the study, a highly social strain of mice learned to associate a sound played in a specific cage with something negative simply by hearing a mouse in that cage respond with squeaks of distress. A genetically different mouse strain with fewer social tendencies did not learn any connection between the cues and the other mouse's distress, showing that the ability to identify and act on another's emotions may have a genetic basis.
I'm mostly curious as to how you tell a strain of mice is "highly social". Do they spend a lot of time having friends over?

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