The emotional lives of mice

Cartoonists have captivated generations by humanising mice, from the enigmatic Mickey Mouse and charming Stuart Little to the smooth-talking Speedy Gonzales and wily Jerry, who continually outsmarts Tom, the dumb housecat. Turns out, they might have been onto something – at least when it comes to the little critters having emotions – according to research published in the journal Science. Back in 1872, Charles Darwin proposed that the universal, innate and communicative emotions of animals and humans can be best understood through facial expressions. Humans clearly use the same expressions to convey emotion. For instance, disgust makes us wrinkle our nose, narrow our eyes and distort our upper lip; if we're happy we smile and if something makes us sad our lips droop down at the edges.