Year: 2016
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Mice have the capacity to transmit pain status amongst familiars, which is understood to represent empathy in rodents. Recent findings show that the stress of a social interaction with an unfamiliar mouse can block empathy, while inhibiting the endocrine stress response of unfamiliar mice can evoke it. Experiments were conducted on na誰ve male CD-1 速 mice and found higher pain responses when familiars were tested together as opposed to with strangers. Western blot analysis demonstrated higher glucocorticoid activity in empathy involved regions (prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex) of mice in the unfamiliar condition compared to the familiar condition. The administration of Metyrapone (to block stress response) before testing resulted in higher pain responses in unfamiliars compared to isolated mice however no significant difference was found between Metyrapone pretreated unfamiliars and saline pretreated unfamiliars. These findings begin to uncover the neurobiological mechanisms by which stress prevents empathy using rodent models.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Sivaani Sivaselvachandran
Language: English
Subfield: Behavioral Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2613113458