Oxytocin enhances observational fear in mice.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Pisansky MT
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5727393 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Oxytocin enhances observational fear in mice.
Pisansky Marc T MT Hanson Leah R LR Gottesman Irving I II Gewirtz Jonathan C JC
Nature communications 20171213 1
Empathy is fundamental to human relations, but its neural substrates remain largely unknown. Here we characterize the involvement of oxytocin in the capacity of mice to display emotional state-matching, an empathy-like behavior. When exposed to a familiar conspecific demonstrator in distress, an observer mouse becomes fearful, as indicated by a tendency to freeze and subsequent efforts to escape. Both intranasal oxytocin administration and chemogenetic stimulation of oxytocin neurons render male ...[more]
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