• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Ruth Everhart

Author, Pastor, Speaker

  • Home
  • About
  • All Books
    • The #MeToo Reckoning
      • #MeToo Course
      • Available in Korean
    • Ruined
      • Buy RUINED direct from the author
      • An Unpublished Chapter to RUINED
    • Chasing the Divine in the Holy Land
  • Shop
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My Account
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
  • #MeToo Course
  • Blog
  • Lent Devotional
  • Free Resources
    • Articles
    • Audio/Podcasts
    • Videos
  • Contact

What I Learned from Mouse Vocalizations

June 1, 2010 By Ruth Everhart Leave a Comment

Mouse Vocalizations and the Brain.

Sounds like a date night, doesn’t it? Last Wednesday Doug and I went to a lecture at Janelia Farm, which is a research institute funded by Howard Hughes money. Picture a lot of smart people doing laboratory research about various brain-related topics. Every couple of months someone gives a lecture for the general public. The place itself is gorgeous, set into a hillside with glassed windows banked like terraces, and beautiful sculptures here and there. The lecture hall is the most comfortable one I’ve ever been in, with individual swivel chairs. Each and every time I enter the place I think, Why can’t church be like this? (I know the answer. See “money.”)

The lecture is always interesting and, honestly, even if it weren’t, I’d go for the hors d’oeuvres. This time it was a huge assortment of miniature roasted vegetables: baby beets, eggplant, zucchini, carrots, peppers, turnips. Pieces of bread with little squares of liver pate. Plus an assortment of desserts in little cups with miniature plastic spoons, garnished with swirls of chocolate or sugared lemon rind. You gotta love eating bite-sized things, right?

Anyway, about the mouse vocalizations. So, mice can’t hear our voices, they’re too low, and we can’t hear mouse voices, they’re too high. This makes it tough to decode their “language” so the scientists devise experiments to track repetitive sounds and correlate them to various behaviors. The fun stuff, of course, is aggression and courtship. We saw some great footage of male mice fighting over a female. Real knight-in-shining-armor behavior, including the female mouse literally choosing the winner by squirming through a little hole to get to him.

In describing this scene, the scientist talked about similar behavior among songbirds. She said that two male birds will sing their hearts out for a female, and she’ll listen and pick the male with the strongest song. Genetic selection for the strength of the species and all that. (No mention at all about hairstyle, vehicle choice, or the all-important sense of humor.)

Today I was in my study and glanced out the window as a pair of orioles arrived on a maple branch. I watched them closely because orioles are not something I see every day. The male, more orange-y, was singing and the female, more yellow, was not. Aha, I thought. On cue, there was a flurry as another male oriole arrived. He, also, was singing. The female just sat there, cocking her head back and forth. Then the late-arriving male flew closer to the female, and the first male attacked him. Before they could settle anything, the female flew away, and the two males followed.

If I hadn’t attended that lecture this whole interaction would have been: some birds on a branch. End.

How cool to be given the eyes to see what’s in front of me. How many times have I seen that very drama unfold, only I didn’t have the eyes to see? How many other dramas am I still blind to?

Lectures by Smart People birds,  brains,  Howard Hughes money,  Janelia Farm,  mouse vocalizations,  public lectures

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Ruth Everhart Author

Let’s connect on social media!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

Subscribe for Occasional Updates

* indicates required


Contact
Loading

Find a Blog Topic Here

  • Church & Sexuality (26)
    • A Christian Feminist on Abortion (1)
    • Egalitarianism (4)
    • Healthy Boundaries (1)
    • LGBT & Christianity (2)
    • Marriage & Vocation (3)
    • Planned Parenthood (1)
    • Podcasts #MeToo (1)
    • Reviews #MeToo (1)
    • Sexual Abuse & Church (10)
  • Exploring Washington DC (3)
    • Embassy Tour 2022 (2)
    • Library of Congress (1)
  • Ministry Leadership (62)
    • Advent/Christmas (3)
    • Ascension/Pentecost (3)
    • Church Clutter (1)
    • Church Hospitality (6)
    • Churches & Money (2)
    • Handcrafted Communion Boxes (1)
    • Leading the Small Church (10)
    • Learning as an Air Bnb Host (4)
    • Lectionary Study (6)
    • Lent/Easter (7)
    • Liturgical Leadership (2)
    • Ordained as a Clergywoman (9)
    • Presbyterian Church (USA) (5)
    • Rock Creek Presbyterian Church (1)
    • Transforming Congregations (5)
  • My Family (45)
    • My Dad, Nicholas J. Huizenga (13)
    • My Sister's Kidney Donation (3)
    • Raising Our Daughters (18)
    • Why I Still Love My Husband (9)
  • My Writing (35)
    • Awards (4)
    • Korean Translation (1)
    • My Writing Journey (13)
    • Published in Christian Century (12)
    • Reviews of My Books (3)
    • Writing A Rape Memoir (2)
  • People I Learn From (38)
    • Abraham Lincoln (7)
    • Conversations with Strangers (15)
    • Gordon Lightfoot (2)
    • Harriet Tubman (1)
    • Lectures by Smart People (8)
    • Nelson Mandela (1)
    • U2 (4)
  • Pilgrimage to the Holy Land (65)
    • Be a Virtual Pilgrim (3)
    • Interfaith Issues (1)
    • Israel & Palestine (13)
    • Lent Devotional about pilgrimage (47)
  • Spiritual Reflection (50)
    • 2022 (1)
    • Aging (8)
    • Birds (1)
    • Bread (1)
    • Ending Gun Violence (5)
    • Finding Happiness (3)
    • Grief & Grieving (8)
    • Prayer (2)
    • Sabbath & Snow (4)
    • Silence at a Monastery (2)
    • Uncluttering as a Spiritual Practice (14)
  • Travel (30)
    • Belize (1)
    • Big Blue Adventures (1)
    • Chesapeake Bay (4)
    • Dominican Republic (1)
    • Michigan (3)
    • New Mexico Pilgrimage as a Family (1)
    • New York City (1)
    • Newfoundland (1)
    • Prince Edward Island PEI (8)
    • Shenandoah (2)
    • Washington DC (7)
  • Words & Writing (71)
    • Book Reviews (12)
    • Lyrics & Music (11)
    • Nourishing Creativity (4)
    • Writer with Kitty Cat (2)
    • Writers on Writing (6)
  • Working with Holidays in Church (11)
    • 9/11 September 11, 2001 (1)
    • All Saints Day (1)
    • Memorial Day (2)
    • Mothers Day (2)
    • New Years (4)
    • Valentines Day (1)

Footer

  • Home
  • About
  • All Books
    • The #MeToo Reckoning
      • #MeToo Course
      • Available in Korean
    • Ruined
      • Buy RUINED direct from the author
      • An Unpublished Chapter to RUINED
    • Chasing the Divine in the Holy Land
  • Shop
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My Account
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
  • #MeToo Course
  • Blog
  • Lent Devotional
  • Free Resources
    • Articles
    • Audio/Podcasts
    • Videos
  • Contact
Log in
Recent Blogposts:
  • Leading Ideas Talks
  • PCUSA Ordination Exam on Judges 19
  • NYC Weekend: Celebrating a Milestone Birthday
  • Greetings to the Rock Creek Presbyterian Church (Tallula, IL) on their 200th Anniversary!
  • Lady Gaga in Concert, DC Aug 2022