Unless you also like to read off-beat stories in your morning newspaper, I'll bet you haven't grasped the resemblance between human beings and meadow voles. It's true. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times and reprinted in our Sacramento Bee, we have a lot in common.
At least that's what I read in that October 16th article in the Bee. It seems that neuroscientists at Emory University National Science Foundation Science & Technology Center in Atlanta were doing research on the little varmints. (Why, I don't know. Most of us would set traps if we found one within our homes or garages. But then, scientists sometimes pursue exotic fields.)
Anyhow, here's the headline: "Loyalty chemical found in rodents."
Apparently voles are monogamous and their brains release a "loyalty compound." These scientists separated vole pairs and found that after four days the male voles experienced changes in the part of their brains that control emotions. They became lethargic and unresponsive, as if depressed, until given a drug that blocked the changes.
Now here's their big finding that made national news: Scientists concluded that their research on these rodents could provide insight into why humans feel grief when separated from their mates.
Are you properly impressed? Don't get me wrong, I know science has benefited all of us. But somehow I'd prefer that they draw their conclusions about human beings from actual study of human beings instead of meadow voles. How about you?
These experts did concede, however, that "human relationships are more complex than animal bonds and involve culture, socialization and rational thought." So, they said, there may be little they can learn from the depressed meadow voles, after all.
I couldn't find out how long the study went on, how many scientists were involved, nor how much it cost. This one thing I know, however. It's a prime example of our tax dollars at work. I'm guessing very few U.S. citizens would have chosen this as a research study focus. We'd better laugh ... or we might cry.
Still, I'm thankful for research scientists. Now and then they come up with something that blesses humanity for generations, like Jonas Salk who put together the polio vaccine. Sometimes it takes many steps to get from here to there.
(I'll never be thrilled with meadow voles, however. I've met some of their cousins and seen their handiwork out in our front yard. It is not a pretty picture.)
Lenore
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