05/02/2014

Male Researchers May Increase Stress in Lab Mice

9:03 minutes

It has long been suspected that laboratory animals might act differently when researchers are present. Reporting in Nature Methods, Jeffrey Mogil and colleagues tested the theory and found that the presence of a male experimenter, but not a female, increased the amount of stress a laboratory mouse displayed. Mogil discusses the findings and the implications for future experimental designs.

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Jeffrey Mogil

Jeffrey Mogil is the E.P. Taylor Professor of Pain Studies at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

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About Alexa Lim

Alexa Lim was a senior producer for Science Friday. Her favorite stories involve space, sound, and strange animal discoveries.