A brave mouse recently demonstrated remarkable behavior by performing “mouse-to-mouse” CPR on another rodent, reacting to an emergency situation in a manner similar to humans. This extraordinary behavior was captured by scientists in a series of experiments that revealed how mice rush to assist each other when one loses consciousness.
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In these experiments, the mice were observed to engage in various actions, including pawing at their fallen companions, licking them, and even pulling their tongues out to clear their airways. No harm came to any of the mice during the study, as the unconscious rodents were temporarily anesthetized to observe how their fellow mice would respond. The research, conducted by the University of Southern California, was published in the journal Science. In over half of the trials, the “bystander” mice instinctively pulled on the unconscious mouse’s tongue, thereby expanding their airway. If a small plastic ball was placed in the mouth of the unconscious mouse, the helper mouse was able to remove the object 80% of the time before proceeding with its first-aid actions.
The study found that mice who were already familiar with each other before the staged event responded more swiftly. Lead researcher and neuroscientist Huizhong Whit Tao remarked, “It seems that the mouse can perform, deliberately, this whole set of behaviours.” She further explained that these actions appear to be instinctual rather than learned, since the mice had never previously encountered a situation where another mouse had lost consciousness. “This is the first time that we’ve reported these kinds of emergency-like responses from animals,” she added.
The research team noted that the behaviors observed in the mice were strikingly similar to the way humans are taught to clear the airways of an unconscious person during CPR. Larger animals like chimpanzees, dolphins, and elephants have previously been seen helping their injured or distressed companions, and this study provided additional insight into such behaviors. Further findings revealed that the mice released oxytocin, a hormone associated with bonding and love, when they encountered an unconscious mouse. Mice that received no help from their peers took longer to recover than those that were attended to. The researchers concluded, “Assisting unresponsive group members may be an innate behaviour widely present among social animals.”
Commenting on the study, William Sheeran and Zoe Donaldson from the University of Colorado explained that the results show the instinct to aid others in distress is “shared by many other species.”
{Matzav.com}