The inability of some people to pull out of a spiral of grieving after suffering an emotional loss is at the heart of a new study being launched at the University of Colorado.
And it’s hoped that a colony of 100 prairie voles will play an important role in unlocking the mystery.
Zoe Donaldson, an assistant professor of behavioral neuroscience at CU, will be using a $1.5 million High-Risk, High-Reward grant announced Tuesday by the National Institute of Health to see why for the approximately 10 percent of people who experience what is known as “complicated grief,” deep mourning can continue for years.
She said the idea for this avenue of study actually did not originate with her.
“I have a colleague who is a psychiatrist, and she specializes in people who are having difficulty moving on,” Donaldson said. “She actually called me and said, would it even be possible to study something like this in an animal?”
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