Empathic Contagious Pain and Consolation in Laboratory Rodents: Species and Sex Comparisons.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Du R
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7270450 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Consolation behavior toward distressed others is common in humans and great apes, yet our ability to explore the biological mechanisms underlying this behavior is limited by its apparent absence in laboratory animals. Here, we provide empirical evidence that a rodent species, the highly social and monogamous prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), greatly increases partner-directed grooming toward familiar conspecifics (but not strangers) that have experienced an unobserved stressor, providing social buffering. Prairie voles also match the fear response, anxiety-related behaviors, and corticosterone increase of the stressed cagemate, suggesting an empathy mechanism. Exposure to the stressed cagemate increases activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, and oxytocin receptor antagonist infused into this region abolishes the partner-directed response, showing conserved neural mechanisms between prairie vole and human.
| S-EPMC4737486 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Contagious yawning may be a useful measure of social psychological functioning, and thus it is important to evaluate the variables influencing its expression in laboratory settings. Previous research has documented that humans yawn less frequently in crowded environments and when under direct observation, but the impact of social presence on contagious yawning remains unknown. Here we present the first study to systematically alter the degree of social presence experienced by participants in the laboratory to determine its effect on contagious yawning frequency. Our results demonstrate that both implied and actual social presence significantly diminish yawn contagion in comparison to a control condition, indicating a key social component to contagious yawning. These findings provide a framework for pursuing additional research investigating the social factors influencing contagious yawning, while also offering applications for measuring this response in laboratory settings.
| S-EPMC4844955 | biostudies-other
Project description:Avian beaks show extreme species-specific variability in morphology, though they develop from the same primordial structures. In both humans and birds, cranial neural crest cells are the primary source of mesenchyme for the frontonasal prominence; previous work has shown that these cells contain molecular information that regulate species-specific facial variation. To determine the molecular basis of avian craniofacial patterning, we have gene expression profiled micro-dissected cranial neural crest cells from the frontonasal prominence of three bird species (chickens, quails, and ducks) during embryonic development. These changes in gene expression were measured on a custom built, cross-species, long oligonucleotide microarray that interrogates the vast majority of transcription factor (TF) genes plus a wide variety of signaling pathways. Samples were isolated at two developmental stages, before (Hamburger Hamilton stage [HH] 20) and after (HH25) morphological distinctions between the species are evident. Keywords: developmental time point comparison
2009-12-03 | GSE11030 | GEO
Project description:To determine if Chlamydia muridarum, or other chlamydiae, are enzootic in rodents, we probed a serum bank of wild Peromyscus spp. mice for immunoglobulin G-antibody reactivity to ultraviolet light-inactivated C. muridarum elementary bodies (EBs) using an enzyme-linked immunoassay. Applying a cut-off for a positive reaction of OD(405) nm = 0.1 at a 1:20 dilution, we found titratable antibody reactivity in 190 of 247 specimens surveyed (77%, mean OD(405) = 0.33 ± 0.26, range = 0.11-1.81, median = 0.25). In addition, serum samples were obtained from a colony of specific pathogen-free Peromyscus spp. maintained at the University of South Carolina and six of 12 samples were reactive (50%, mean OD(405) = 0.19 +/- 0.08, range = 0.1-0.32, median = 0.18). Lastly, 40 additional wild Peromyscus spp. were captured in a disparate region of Midwestern USA and 22 serum specimens were reactive (55%, mean OD(405) = 0.22 +/- 0.11, range = 0.1-0.48, median = 0.2). Specificity of selected reactive sera for chlamydial antigen was confirmed on Western blot using resolved purified EBs as the detecting antigen. From tissues removed from several mice at necropsy, the gene for chlamydial 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Positive samples of 16S rRNA were subjected to additional PCR for the major outer membrane protein gene (ompA). The amplicons of three select ompA positive samples were sequenced with ?99% homology with C. muridarum. Our findings indicate that chlamydial infection is enzootic for Peromyscus spp., and that C. muridarum, or a closely related species or strain, is likely the agent in the tested rodent species.
| S-EPMC6929162 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Avian beaks show extreme species-specific variability in morphology, though they develop from the same primordial structures. In both humans and birds, cranial neural crest cells are the primary source of mesenchyme for the frontonasal prominence; previous work has shown that these cells contain molecular information that regulate species-specific facial variation. To determine the molecular basis of avian craniofacial patterning, we have gene expression profiled micro-dissected cranial neural crest cells from the frontonasal prominence of three bird species (chickens, quails, and ducks) during embryonic development. These changes in gene expression were measured on a custom built, cross-species, long oligonucleotide microarray that interrogates the vast majority of transcription factor (TF) genes plus a wide variety of signaling pathways. Samples were isolated at two developmental stages, before (Hamburger Hamilton stage [HH] 20) and after (HH25) morphological distinctions between the species are evident. Keywords: developmental time point comparison Frontonasal mesenchymal cells were micro-dissected two developmental stages, before (Hamburger Hamilton stage [HH] 20) and after (HH25) morphological distinctions between the species are evident. For each sample, mesenchyme from 40 embryos was pooled. For each species, the early stage of development was compared to the later stage. Experiments include technical replicates as well as dye-switches for a total of 4 microarrays per species.
2009-12-02 | E-GEOD-11030 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Contagious parthenogenesis-a process involving rare functional males produced by a parthenogenetic lineage which mate with coexisting sexual females resulting in fertile parthenogenetic offspring-is one of the most striking mechanisms responsible for the generation of new parthenogenetic lineages. Populations of the parthenogenetic diploid brine shrimp Artemia produce fully functional males in low proportions. The evolutionary role of these so-called Artemia rare males is, however, unknown. Here we investigate whether new parthenogenetic clones could be obtained in the laboratory by mating these rare males with sexual females. We assessed the survival and sex ratio of the hybrid ovoviviparous offspring from previous crosses between rare males and females from all Asiatic sexual species, carried out cross-mating experiments between F1 hybrid individuals to assess their fertility, and estimated the viability and the reproductive mode of the resulting F2 offspring. Molecular analysis confirmed the parentage of hybrid parthenogenetic F2. Our study documents the first laboratory synthesis of new parthenogenetic lineages in Artemia and supports a model for the contagious spread of parthenogenesis. Our results suggest recessive inheritance but further experiments are required to confirm the likelihood of the contagious parthenogenesis model.
| S-EPMC4081286 | biostudies-literature
Project description:2,4,6-tribromophenol (TBP, CAS No. 118-79-6) is widely used as a brominated flame retardant and wood antifungal agent. TBP is frequently detected in environmental matrices, biota, and humans. In female SD rats, systemically available TBP (10?µmol/kg, IV) was rapidly excreted primarily via urine, with approximately 61% of the dose recovered after 4?h, and 89%-94% in 24 h; 5% was recovered in feces; and 1%-2% in blood/tissues. TBP administered to female SD rats (0.1-1000?µmol/kg) by gavage was well absorbed, with approximately 25% eliminated via urine after 4?h and approximately 88% after 24?h. Approximately 11% of a single oral dose was recovered in bile. Male SD rats and B6C3F1/J mice of both sexes had similar disposition profiles when administered a single oral dose of TBP (10?µmol/kg). Following administration, fecal recoveries varied only slightly by dose, sex, or species. TBP readily passed unchanged through both human (ex vivo only) and rat skin with between 55% and 85% of a 100?nmol/cm2 passing into or through skin. Concentrations of TBP in blood fit a two-compartment model after IV-dosing and a one-compartment model after oral dosing. Urine contained a mixture of TBP, TBP-glucuronide, and TBP-sulfate. Fecal extracts contained only parent TBP whereas bile contained only TBP-glucuronide. TBP did not appear to bioaccumulate or alter its own metabolism after repeated administration. TBP was readily absorbed at all doses and routes tested with an oral bioavailability of 23%-27%; 49% of TBP is expected to be dermally bioavailable in humans. From these data, we conclude that humans are likely to have significant systemic exposure when TBP is ingested or dermal exposure occurs.
| S-EPMC6804416 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Post-aggression consolation is assumed to occur in humans as well as in chimpanzees. While consolation following peer aggression has been observed in children, systematic evidence of consolation in human adults is rare. We used surveillance camera footage of the immediate aftermath of nonfatal robberies to observe the behaviors and characteristics of victims and bystanders. Consistent with empathy explanations, we found that consolation was linked to social closeness rather than physical closeness. While females were more likely to console than males, males and females were equally likely to be consoled. Furthermore, we show that high levels of threat during the robbery increased the likelihood of receiving consolation afterwards. These patterns resemble post-aggression consolation in chimpanzees and suggest that emotions of empathic concern are involved in consolation across humans and chimpanzees.
| S-EPMC5451014 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Eurasian brine shrimp (genus Artemia) have closely related sexual and asexual lineages of parthenogenetic females, which produce rare males at low frequencies. Although they are known to have ZW chromosomes, these are not well characterized, and it is unclear whether they are shared across the clade. Furthermore, the underlying genetic architecture of the transmission of asexuality, which can occur when rare males mate with closely related sexual females, is not well understood. We produced a chromosome-level assembly for the sexual Eurasian species Artemia sinica and characterized in detail the pair of sex chromosomes of this species. We combined this new assembly with short-read genomic data for the sexual species Artemia sp. Kazakhstan and several asexual lineages of Artemia parthenogenetica, allowing us to perform an in-depth characterization of sex-chromosome evolution across the genus. We identified a small differentiated region of the ZW pair that is shared by all sexual and asexual lineages, supporting the shared ancestry of the sex chromosomes. We also inferred that recombination suppression has spread to larger sections of the chromosome independently in the American and Eurasian lineages. Finally, we took advantage of a rare male, which we backcrossed to sexual females, to explore the genetic basis of asexuality. Our results suggest that parthenogenesis is likely partly controlled by a locus on the Z chromosome, highlighting the interplay between sex determination and asexuality.
| S-EPMC9526061 | biostudies-literature