Here are excerpts from an article in the Los Angeles Times on grief in rodents and how studying them might help define human grief.

There was also an endearing photo of a couple of the creatures with their brood nursing at the female (I assume). I have no luck transferring such photos.

The article says:

Male rodents bonding with a mate produce a loyalty brain chemical that leads to depression during times of separation, a study finds. (Duh) The research may help in the treatment of human grief.

The same chemical is found in human brains, and scientists said the research could provide insight into treating human grief and separation.

"Whenever you form a pair bond, it changes your neurochemistry," said Larry J. Young, a neuroscientist at Emory University in Atlanta and an author of the study. "If you lose that partner, it has a dramatic impact on the brain."

Prairie voles, which are found in the wild through much of North America, are used to study monogamy because they are among the few animals that pair up like humans. Although the voles may occasionally stray from the nest, they eventually return to their lifelong partners to help raise litter after litter. (That might be me, except for the little part.)

When researchers killed the voles and looked inside their brains, they found elevated levels of CRF, which is known to have a role in depression. (I hereby retreat from personal involvement in such studies.) ***

The article went on to explain since many other factors enter into human grief that perhaps studying the vole wouldn’t be all that helpful. I guess I’ll go back to crying into my chardonnay.

Xx, Teal