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Singing Mice and Brain Chemistry

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the disney-escapees dept.

Shirlockc writes "The Public Library of Science has a research article on how male mice actually sing in the presence of females. They actually posted some of the audios adjusted for human ears as these songs are ultrasonic. The authors are comparing these warbles to bird songs. The songs are quite complex so do the mice learn them and/or improve on them? This can be a potential model for investigating how brain chemistry works during learning."

13 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. Howling Mice Already Discovered by barakn · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Grasshopper mice are known to howl and hunt for meat. They are the wolves of the mouse world.

    --
    "I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
    1. Re:Howling Mice Already Discovered by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Pet fancy mice will do the same, although not exclusively. If anyone has a pet mouse, or their kids have one, drop a half-dead moth, grasshopper or other bug in with them. They'll show a level of predator you probably won't have seen before. They'll chase, leap upon, and deliver several killing stabs with their teeth in seconds, then sit down and finish off the bug, before going back to being mild mannered little cute mammals.

    2. Re:Howling Mice Already Discovered by JabberWokky · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Damn right... except... well... I hate to tell you this, but they aren't mice. You might as well point out that cats meow. They are small and covered in fur as well.

      Grasshopper mice aren't rats either... they are a completely different type of rodent that split off way before rats and mice were around. I've raised quite a few mus musculus (common mouse, both albino and all types of fancy; they are all one species), and have recently gotten into the vocal genus Peromyscus, which is the same tribe and subfamily as the grasshopper mouse.

      Audible sound in mus musculus is usually a sign of health issues. Peromyscus sing all the damn time. But the good news is that if you can get used to a few wheels turning all night, you can get used to rodents chirping and singing all night as well.

      That's what makes this nifty -- turns out mus musculus can sing as well... just not audibly to human ears.

      (As an aside, I think I might have heard them... I've had groups of mice curl up and sleep on my shoulder right under my ear while I'm reading and I have heard high pitched noises as they wake and push each other around. I have very good high frequency hearing; I can hear some "silent" burglar alarms that use an active sound and also all manner of CRT noises. I attributed it to protest sounds, but now I'm curious.)

      --
      Evan

      --
      "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
  2. Have you ever??? by hackstraw · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Watched male and female humans in their late teens to mid 20's when they really want a "piece of the action"?

    Its almost amusing! Like watching the waggle dance of a bee or something.

    Seriously, if your in that age group, do whatever your hormones tell you to do. But for us outside of that, you guys and gals are really funny.

    And yes, I've "been there done that". It seemed right at the time (hormones again). But humans when they are at their most "animal-like" are pretty funny. Fights can be a part of it, but those are funny too all to themselves.

  3. A fun and safe experiment.... by mikael · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Has anyone tried playing the original (ultrasonic) tracks in a room where there are cats?
    I am wondering if the cats would react?

    --
    Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  4. Ultrasonic pest repellers? by Mr.+Roadkill · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I've always thought those devices were 90% snake-oil, but after hearing those mouse recordings I guess they might work under some circumstances - they'd make it difficult to attract a mate, for example.

    Mind you, if noisy environments where you can't hear yourself think are inherently repellent, I guess all the nightclubs should have gone out of business years ago...

  5. the better mousetrap by inventor61 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    A saying about how the "world will beat a path to your door" comes to mind. Why haven't I heard more about how this phenomenon might be used for rodent control? Surely the sounds could be either digitized and played back, or ... even better ... a heuristic process could listen to the male's response to a pheromone bait-trap, and then the 'gizmo' would warble back ... Am I the only one who is thinking this? Big money here. Rodents cause many millions of dollars of damage to grains stores annually.

  6. Old News by heptapod · · Score: 5, Interesting

    David Attenborough, noted naturalist, remarked upon the discovery of a rare night-singing tree mouse found in the Sheba Islands in the south Pacific. The musendrophilus has a very haunting song. Also their webbed paws are highly prized by the natives for the creation of their musical instruments.

    It is unknown if they are related to the rare "tree squeaks" that live in the treetops and squeak every time the wind rustles their home's boughs.

  7. Challange by burden123 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I challange someone to make a music remix out of this!

  8. Re:Not bad taste by lucifer_666 · · Score: 2, Interesting
    It's Bristish humour, and it's very funny. You don't get it. I'm guessing you're American due to that point. American's generally don't get Bristish humour. You probably piss yourself at slap-stick humour, somebody falling down stairs or getting a pie in the face, but I don't understand it and I don't find it funny at all. Different culture, different expression.

    I think the /. geeks "get" HHGTTG because they are quite a sarcastic, smartass bunch, more likley to get a kick from humiliating someone intellectually. And that's the sort of mind set most Bristish have.

    PS. I'm an Aussie.

  9. My cat went nuts when he heard this.. by GnuPooh · · Score: 2, Interesting

    OK I'm not sure if it's just that it's high pitched, but my I've never seen my cat react to a sound like he did for this. He was all interested and looking around. Wonder if he understands what it means better than I do?

    Anyone else with pets care to share observations?

  10. Re:Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy by antic · · Score: 4, Interesting


    I played these audio files on my laptop, and my cat woke up and started sniffing excitedly around the room until he'd narrowed the source down to the little speakers on the front of the laptop. Then, getting confused when he couldn't associate the sound with the correct smell, he looked at me and meowed for help.

    Makes me wonder if mouse songs are familiar to cats?

    --
    'Thats they exact same thing a banana wrench monkey.'
  11. I doubt the exact pitch matters by Julian+Morrison · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Cats etc don't hear "ultrasound" as a distinct thing. They hear what is for them perfectly normal noise that happens to be high-pitched. But they'll as likely recognise an unusually low-pitched mouse call as you would recognise an unusually low pitched meow or bark.