Evolutionary study reveals physiological responses to infant cries in bats and humans

Research indicates that the physiological response to infant distress calls is a deeply rooted evolutionary mechanism. A study published in Frontiers in Ethology involving Japanese house bats (Pipistrellus abramus) found that mother bats exhibit significant physiological changes when hearing their offspring's isolation calls. Researchers observed that a mother bat's heart rate could increase by as much as 70 beats per minute in response to these specific sounds.

The study noted that mother bats reacted exclusively to the recorded isolation calls of their own pups, a trait that helps them locate their offspring within large colonies. This biological imperative mirrors human responses, where a mother's brain elicits a survival-oriented neuronal response in the midbrain upon hearing a baby cry.

In a broader evolutionary context, crying serves as a fundamental, involuntary form of communication used to signal hunger, pain, or discomfort. Evidence from archaeology and paleolactology suggests these biological imperatives and the parental responses to them are ancient, predating complex language.