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Empathy in stroke rats is modulated by social settings
- Source :
- J Cereb Blood Flow Metab
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- SAGE Publications, 2019.
-
Abstract
- Rodents display “empathy” defined as perceived physical pain or psychological stress by cagemates when co-experiencing socially distinct traumatic events. The present study tested the hypothesis that empathy occurs in adult rats subjected to an experimental neurological disorder, by allowing co-experience of stroke with cagemates. Psychological stress was measured by general locomotor activity, Rat Grimace Scale (RGS), and plasma corticosterone. Physiological correlates were measured by Western blot analysis of advanced glycation endproducts (AGE)-related proteins in the thymus. General locomotor activity was impaired in stroke animals and in non-stroke rats housed with stroke rats suggesting transfer of behavioral manifestation of psychological stress from an injured animal to a non-injured animal leading to social inhibition. RGS was higher in stroke rats regardless of social settings. Plasma corticosterone levels at day 3 after stroke were significantly higher in stroke animals housed with stroke rats, but not with non-stroke rats, indicating that empathy upregulated physiological stress level. The expression of five proteins related to AGE in the thymus reflected the observed pattern of general locomotor activity, RGS, and plasma corticosterone levels. These results indicate that stroke-induced psychological stress manifested on both the behavioral and physiological levels and appeared to be affected by empathy-associated social settings.
- Subjects :
- Male
media_common.quotation_subject
Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products
Empathy
Thymus Gland
Social Environment
medicine.disease_cause
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
medicine
Animals
Psychological stress
Stroke
030304 developmental biology
media_common
0303 health sciences
Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery
Original Articles
medicine.disease
Rats
Neurology
Neurology (clinical)
Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Psychology
Stress, Psychological
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Clinical psychology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15597016 and 0271678X
- Volume :
- 40
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....d279053ef24dd808e8e1c7ab9a9718c7