Mirror Daily

Sunday, February 28, 2021
Log in
  • Home
  • National & Global News
  • Business & Economy
  • Tech & Science
  • Health
  • About Mirror Daily
    • Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Latest News
    • The Geological Features of Pluto Have Just Gotten Dark Names Inspired from the Underworld
    • The Abuse of Imodium
    • McDonald’s Salads are worse than their Burgers
    • US Family Sues Hospital Over Botched Tonsillectomy
    • Should We Go Back to The Moon?
    • Photo of Gay Military Men Kissing Goes Viral

Pages

  • About Mirror Daily
  • Contact Us
  • Fossil Reveals That Dinosaurs Suffered from Arthritis
  • Our Team
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Terms of Use
  • World Breastfeeding Week: Advantages and Disadvantages

Recent Posts

  • Canadian Teen Killed by Toxic Shock Syndrome on School Trip June 29, 2018
  • Donut Fries Coming to Dunkin’ Donuts Nationwide June 28, 2018
  • Kohl’s Hiring Workers for Holiday Season amid Labor Shortage June 28, 2018
  • This is How You’re Sabotaging Your Skin Safety June 27, 2018
  • SF Woman Calls Cops on Little Girl for Selling Water on Street June 26, 2018
  • Sarah Sanders Misused Official Twitter Account to Complain about Restaurant June 25, 2018
  • Man Arrested for Placing 10-Ft-Long Heroin Spoon Outside Drug Maker HQ June 25, 2018

Prairie Voles Can Also Show Empathy

January 22, 2016 By Melissa Gansler Leave a Comment

"prairie voles are empathic"

Prairie voles become anxious if their partner is anxious and they try to sooth them

(Mirror Daily, United States) – Although it was thought that feelings like empathy can be felt only by large-brained animals, it turns out that prairie voles can also show empathy.

We know that animal’s senses are very good but we usually don’t put much thought into what they feel, thinking that they probably don’t have feelings like we do. How can an animal feel love, for example? But let’s stop flattering ourselves because we are not that special. Animals have feelings too and it turns out that even the tiny ones can share love, such as rodents.

A study was conducted on prairie voles, which are very social animals and generally monogamous. When one animal from a pair was feeling distress, the other one started to feel anxious as well. Therefore, we may say they empathize with each other because they are able to mirror the other vole’s feelings.

But they don’t stop here. Seeing their partners are not well, the voles start consoling them by touching and grooming. Similar to humans, voles use soothing movements to make their partners feel better.

After observing this, the researchers also studied the rodents’ limbic systems. They discovered that the level of corticosterone, the hormone of stress was very high in the voles after the incident. This means they actually became stressed out when seeing their partner was not well.

Moreover, their oxytocin level was also quite high. Oxytocin is also popularly known as the “love hormone” and it is believed to be present in all mammals. This means that all mammals can feel love in one way or another.

However, voles didn’t care much about strangers. Even if they saw another vole in distress, which wasn’t they’re partner, they were less likely to help or console them. On the other hand, the same study was conducted on meadow voles. These animals are not as social as the ones in the prairie and showed not empathic behavior.

After hearing about the findings of the study, PETA has now even more reasons to go against those who harm animals, as they have feelings too.

Previous studies also pointed to the fact that prairie voles may have feelings and even experience a kind of romantic love towards their sexual partners, while they are pretty much indifferent to other members of the opposite sex.

Image source: www.bing.com

The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts

Melissa Gansler

Melissa calls herself Poet, essayist, and naturalist. Graduated from the University of Michigan, Melissa holds a degree in Literature. Besides English, she can also speak Chinese, German, French.

Latest posts by Melissa Gansler (see all)

  • The Milky Way Seems to Have A Massive Exoplanet At Its Core (Study) - November 8, 2017
  • Teen Moms Have the Highest Risk of Developing Heart Disease Later in Life - November 3, 2017
  • Drinking Red Wine Regularly Might Increase a Woman’s Chances to Get Pregnant - October 29, 2017

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Filed Under: Health

Subscribe to Blog via Email

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

Recent Articles

Albert Einstein in group photo

Einstein’s Travel Diaries Reveal His Lesser Known Racist Side

June 14, 2018 By John Birks

Baobab tree in Tanzania

Southern Africa’s Iconic Baobab Trees Facing Massive Die-Off

June 11, 2018 By John Birks

UFO 'Self Parking' Sign

Researcher Accuses NASA of Massive Alien Cover-Up

March 5, 2018 By John Birks

Elon Musk's flying Tesla roadster

NASA Warns Elon Musk’s Flying Tesla Roadster May Contaminate Mars

February 28, 2018 By John Birks

Windows 10 home screen

Microsoft Working on Making Windows Password-Free

February 12, 2018 By John Birks

Ice Cubes

Scientists Discover Fourth State of Water: Superionic Ice

February 10, 2018 By John Birks

Head of a northern gannet

Forever Alone Nigel the Gannet Found Dead near Fake Partner

February 3, 2018 By John Birks

Globular Star Cluster

Scientists Find Surprise Black Hole in Globular Star Cluster

January 20, 2018 By John Birks

The Amazon Echo Dot

America’s Smart Speaker Market Jumps to 39 Million Users

January 15, 2018 By John Birks

Pink plasma ball

CES 2018: Intel Presents Out-of-This-World Quantum Computer

January 10, 2018 By John Birks

Teen using her iPad

Major Apple Investors Urge Company to Do More About iPhone Addiction

January 8, 2018 By John Birks

Russian spacecraft

Out-of-Control Chinese Space Station Hurling Toward Earth

January 5, 2018 By John Birks

wanning moon seen on the evening sky in between trees

Scientists Thrilled about Trump’s Initiative to Send Explorers Back to the Moon

December 31, 2017 By John Birks

Two iPhone 7 models on table

Apple Confirms Slower-iPhone Conspiracy Theory

December 22, 2017 By John Birks

Related Articles

  • California teen Sara Manitoski

    Canadian Teen Killed by Toxic Shock Syndrome on School Trip

    Jun 29, 2018
  • Happy woman on yacht

    This is How You’re Sabotaging Your Skin Safety

    Jun 27, 2018
  • Woman speaking on the phone

    SF Woman Calls Cops on Little Girl for Selling Water on Street

    Jun 26, 2018
  • Gay Pride 2015 in Germany

    WHO No Longer Considers Transgender People Mentally ill

    Jun 22, 2018
  • Man drinking beer

    Drinking Alcohol Can Boost Cancer Risk (Study)

    Jun 21, 2018
  • Coffee cup

    What Makes Some Things Addictive?

    Jun 21, 2018
  • Healthy breakfast

    Type 2 Diabetes Later in Life Could Be Early Sign of Cancer, Study

    Jun 19, 2018
  • Man pouring draft beer

    Major Industry-Funded Drinking Study Shut Down by NIH

    Jun 18, 2018
  • Burning oil lamp and Christian Orthodox prayer beads

    Churchgoers Tend to Live 4 Years Longer than Atheists (Study)

    Jun 15, 2018
  • DNA strand

    Groundbreaking DNA-Editing Tech Could Boost Cancer Risk, Study

    Jun 13, 2018

Categories

  • Business & Economy
  • Capital & Retail Sector
  • Health
  • IT & Diversified Sector
  • National & Global News
  • Tech & Science

Copyright © 2021 MirrorDaily.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.