Novel unconditioned prosocial behavior in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) as a model for empathy.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

In this study, empathy is quantified using a novel social test. Empathy and prosocial behavior are linked to the expression of oxytocin in humans and rodent models. Specifically, prosocial behavior in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) has been linked to the expression of oxytocin in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. The animal's behavior was considered empathic if it spends significantly more time attempting to remove a loos fitting restraint (tether) from the stimulus animal than time in contact with a, simultaneously presented, non-social object similar to the tether. The behavioral data was cross-referenced with the number of neurons expressing oxytocin and arginine vasopressin, as well as the density of dopaminergic neurons (identified by the express

SUBMITTER: Stetzik LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6278148 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature