"Human nature" is not unique to humans

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The UTEP study focuses on the impact of "bullying" on voles' behavioral patterns. Researchers observed what happened when individual male voles were bullied by more aggressive males over the course of ten days, inducing what Iñiguez refers to as "social defeat stress."

Iñiguez explained that that the voles who were bullied exhibited changes in body weight, performed worse on spatial memory tests and were less sociable with other voles compared to those who were not bullied. Where voles generally show a preference for sugar water, the bullied voles showed no preference when given a choice between regular water and sugar water, a pattern known as anhedonia, or loss of pleasure in regular activities, Iñiguez said.

Iñiguez and his fellow researchers concluded that "social defeat" activated the voles' stress response and became a risk factor for symptoms that mirrored those of depression in humans.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240404190712.htm