With the year coming to an end and temperatures dropping in much of the Northern Hemisphere, you might be feeling the urge to gather some loved ones, curl up at home, and laze about doing not much of anything for a while. If togetherness and (semi-) hibernation appeals to you this time of year, you’re not alone. The instinct to gather and snooze is widespread in the animal kingdom.

Voles in Mongolia “form small huddling groups of around four in the nesting chambers,” while Canadian “red-sided garter snakes congregate in communal, overwintering dens, sometimes by the thousand,” ecologist Anna Champneys offers as two examples among many.

Banding together and taking it easy helps animals conserve heat, hook up, spot predators, and pool their food-finding resources. Which is a strong reason to get together and chill if you’re a rook or a hare.

But what about the human urge to gather and rest this time of year? Does it also have evolutionary advantages? And perhaps most important for entrepreneurs feeling low on energy right now, is that a good excuse to give into your urge to hibernate? Yup, replies one neuroscientist.