Social modulation of pain as evidence for empathy in mice.
Empathy is thought to be unique to higher primates, possibly to humans alone. We report the modulation of pain sensitivity in mice produced solely by exposure to their cagemates, but not to strangers, in pain. Mice tested in dyads and given an identical noxious stimulus displayed increased pain behaviors with statistically greater co-occurrence, effects dependent on visual observation. When familiar mice were given noxious stimuli of different intensities, their pain behavior was influenced by their neighbor's status bidirectionally. Finally, observation of a cagemate in pain altered pain sensitivity of an entirely different modality, suggesting that nociceptive mechanisms in general are sensitized.
Langford
Dale J
DJ
Department of Psychology and Centre for Research on Pain, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1B1, Canada.
Crager
Sara E
SE
Shehzad
Zarrar
Z
Smith
Shad B
SB
Sotocinal
Susana G
SG
Levenstadt
Jeremy S
JS
Chanda
Mona Lisa
ML
Levitin
Daniel J
DJ
Mogil
Jeffrey S
JS
D000533:Altruism; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003463:Cues; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D005557:Formaldehyde / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice / Q000523:psychology*; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D012919:Social Behavior
D005557:Formaldehyde