Lab mice have been found to be more stressed out by the presence of male scientists than of female ones.

Lab mice have been found to be more stressed out by the presence of male scientists than of female ones.

That was discovered by a team of researchers from McGill University in Montreal involved with researching the neurological and genetic causes of pain, including the use of rodents to help find pain relievers for humans.

During trials it was observed that the mice weren’t responding to particular pain stimuli as expected. That is, until the lab was cleared of humans.

That’s when psychology Professor Jeffrey Mogil decided it was time to take a closer look.

The test mice were injected with an inflammatory, pain-inducing agent as usual, but the researchers switched up the subjects’ surroundings.

Various gender-specific species and objects were introduced to the environment and included people, sweaty t-shirts, guinea pigs, cats, and dogs.

Consistently, when they were of the male variety, the lab mice experienced a spike in a stress hormone that masks the intensity of pain.

Not only did females not elicit the same reaction, they countered the male effect.

The team is now concerned that many pain - and pain relief - studies may be skewed because of the gender of the researchers.