Reducing Social Stress Elicits Emotional Contagion of Pain in Mouse and Human Strangers.

Simple item page
dc.cclicenceCC-BY-NC-NDen
dc.contributor.authorMirali, S.en
dc.contributor.authorIsbester, K.en
dc.contributor.authorMartin, L.en
dc.contributor.authorHathaway, G.en
dc.contributor.authorIsbester, K.en
dc.contributor.authorNiederstrasser, Nils Georgen
dc.contributor.authorSlepian, P.en
dc.contributor.authorTrost, Z.en
dc.contributor.authorSternberg, W.en
dc.contributor.authorSapolsky, R.en
dc.date.acceptance2014-11-11en
dc.date.accessioned2018-05-15T12:43:11Z
dc.date.available2018-05-15T12:43:11Z
dc.date.issued2015-01-15
dc.descriptionThe file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.en
dc.description.abstractEmpathy for another’s physical pain has been demonstrated in humans [1] and mice [2]; in both species, empathy is stronger between familiars. Stress levels in stranger dyads are higher than in cagemate dyads or isolated mice [2, 3], suggesting that stress might be responsible for the absence of empathy for the pain of strangers. We show here that blockade of glucocorticoid synthesis or receptors for adrenal stress hormones elicits the expression of emotional contagion (a form of empathy) in strangers of both species. Mice and undergraduates were tested for sensitivity to noxious stimulation alone and/or together (dyads). In familiar, but not stranger, pairs, dyadic testing was associated with increased pain behaviors or ratings compared to isolated testing. Pharmacological blockade of glucocorticoid synthesis or glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors enabled the expression of emotional contagion of pain in mouse and human stranger dyads, as did a shared gaming experience (the video game Rock Band) in human strangers. Our results demonstrate that emotional contagion is prevented, in an evolutionarily conserved manner, by the stress of a social interaction with an unfamiliar conspecific and can be evoked by blocking the endocrine stress response.en
dc.funderN/Aen
dc.identifier.citationMartin, L.J., Hathaway, G., Isbester, K., Mirali, S., Acland, E.L., Niederstrasser, N., Slepian, P.M., Trost, Z., Bartz, J.A., Sapolsky, R.M. and Sternberg, W.F. (2015) Reducing social stress elicits emotional contagion of pain in mouse and human strangers. Current Biology, 25(3), pp.326-332.en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.11.028
dc.identifier.issn0960-9822
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2086/16176
dc.language.isoenen
dc.peerreviewedYesen
dc.projectidN/Aen
dc.publisherElsevieren
dc.researchinstituteInstitute for Psychological Scienceen
dc.titleReducing Social Stress Elicits Emotional Contagion of Pain in Mouse and Human Strangers.en
dc.typeArticleen

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Stress and Empathy Paper - Curr. Biol.pdf
Size:
477.7 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
4.2 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

School of Applied Social Sciences