Mirror Perception in Mice: Preference For and Stress Reduction by Mirrors
I measured the amount of time mice spent in a compartment with either a mirror or an opaque screen and found that mice stayed longer in the compartment with the mirror. This finding suggests that mice prefer mirrors. They also showed a preference for the mirror over unfamiliar live mice but did not...
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| Published in | International journal of comparative psychology Vol. 29 |
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| Main Author | |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
2016
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| Online Access | Get full text |
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| Summary: | I measured the amount of time mice spent in a compartment with either a mirror or an opaque screen and found that mice stayed longer in the compartment with the mirror. This finding suggests that mice prefer mirrors. They also showed a preference for the mirror over unfamiliar live mice but did not show a differential preference for the mirror over a familiar live mouse (cage mate). Restraint stress caused hyperthermia (known as stress-induced hyperthermia) in the mice. When cage mates received the restraint stress together, the hyperthermia was reduced. Placement of mirrors instead of the cage mates also showed stress-reducing effects, while restraint with unfamiliar mice did not reduce the hyperthermia. These results suggest that mirrors have familiar cage mate-like social effects in mice. |
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| ISSN: | 0889-3667 2168-3344 |
| DOI: | 10.46867/ijcp.2016.29.00.10 |