Mice sense when other mice are in trouble

And try to arouse them.

Two researchers (Sheeran and Donaldson) published research this week “An innate drive to save a life” in Science Magazine[¹] demonstrating that mice exhibit a drive to save the lives of other mice in distress. And they explored the mechanisms behind such behaviors.

This is analogous to how people would respond when a person collapses, i.e., performing CPR to reduce the chance of the individual dying. The researchers note that other species demonstrate similar behaviors, for instance, elephants, chimpanzees, and dolphins, among others, help other members of their species when they appear to be in distress.

Mice behaved differently depending on how a mouse in distress presented itself. For example, they wouldn’t react the same way if the subject mouse had just been asleep. It appears to be a well-differentiated response related to specific brain structures, neurotransmitters, etc.

Quite impressive. I’ll leave it to you to read the full article in Science if you want but, I’m writing about this research for a particular reason.

Forget the mice.

How much does it take to inhibit an instinct to help another person at risk? Eh? What does it take to create a voter or politician who refuses to help others?

Is it the presence of a special capability or the suppression of an otherwise human characteristic to shut off one percent of the government’s total spending that would otherwise to the sick, the disadvantaged, the hungry, or the homeless?

Now remember the mice. And the disabled veterans thrown out of government jobs. And so on. What makes us strong isn’t ignoring those in need.

What do you think?

1. https://www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagazine/library/page/21_february_2025/827/ (pages 827 and 828)