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Gachomba MJM, Esteve-Agraz J, Márquez C. Prosocial behaviors in rodents. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 163:105776. [PMID: 38909642 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2024] [Revised: 05/21/2024] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 06/25/2024]
Abstract
Prosocial behaviors (i.e., actions that benefit others) are central for social interactions in humans and other animals, by fostering social bonding and cohesion. To study prosociality in rodents, scientists have developed behavioral paradigms where animals can display actions that benefit conspecifics in distress or need. These paradigms have provided insights into the role of social interactions and transfer of emotional states in the expression of prosociality, and increased knowledge of its neural bases. However, prosociality levels are variable: not all tested animals are prosocial. Such variation has been linked to differences in animals' ability to process another's state as well as to contextual factors. Moreover, evidence suggests that prosocial behaviors involve the orchestrated activity of multiple brain regions and neuromodulators. This review aims to synthesize findings across paradigms both at the level of behavior and neural mechanisms. Growing evidence confirms that these processes can be studied in rodents, and intense research in the past years is rapidly advancing our knowledge. We discuss a strong bias in the field towards the study of these processes in negative valence contexts (e.g., pain, fear, stress), which should be taken as an opportunity to open new venues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J M Gachomba
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Joan Esteve-Agraz
- CNC-UC - Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; CIBB - Center for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante, Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Alicante, Spain
| | - Cristina Márquez
- CNC-UC - Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; CIBB - Center for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
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Bhatt KV, Weissman CR. The effect of psilocybin on empathy and prosocial behavior: a proposed mechanism for enduring antidepressant effects. NPJ MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH 2024; 3:7. [PMID: 38609500 PMCID: PMC10955966 DOI: 10.1038/s44184-023-00053-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
Psilocybin is a serotonergic psychedelic shown to have enduring antidepressant effects. Currently, the mechanism for its enduring effects is not well understood. Empathy and prosocial behavior may be important for understanding the therapeutic benefit of psilocybin. In this article we review the effect of psilocybin on empathy and prosocial behavior. Moreover, we propose that psilocybin may induce a positive feedback loop involving empathy and prosocial behavior which helps explain the observed, enduring antidepressant effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kush V Bhatt
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Cory R Weissman
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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Zhang M, Wu YE, Jiang M, Hong W. Cortical regulation of helping behaviour towards others in pain. Nature 2024; 626:136-144. [PMID: 38267578 PMCID: PMC10925558 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06973-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
Humans and animals exhibit various forms of prosocial helping behaviour towards others in need1-3. Although previous research has investigated how individuals may perceive others' states4,5, the neural mechanisms of how they respond to others' needs and goals with helping behaviour remain largely unknown. Here we show that mice engage in a form of helping behaviour towards other individuals experiencing physical pain and injury-they exhibit allolicking (social licking) behaviour specifically towards the injury site, which aids the recipients in coping with pain. Using microendoscopic imaging, we found that single-neuron and ensemble activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) encodes others' state of pain and that this representation is different from that of general stress in others. Furthermore, functional manipulations demonstrate a causal role of the ACC in bidirectionally controlling targeted allolicking. Notably, this behaviour is represented in a population code in the ACC that differs from that of general allogrooming, a distinct type of prosocial behaviour elicited by others' emotional stress. These findings advance our understanding of the neural coding and regulation of helping behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingmin Zhang
- Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ye Emily Wu
- Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Mengping Jiang
- Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Weizhe Hong
- Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Bioengineering, Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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Li Z, Peng HY, Lee CS, Lin TB, Hsieh MC, Lai CY, Wu HF, Chen LC, Chen MC, Chou D. Methylone produces antidepressant-relevant actions and prosocial effects. Neuropharmacology 2024; 242:109787. [PMID: 37913982 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2023.109787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Revised: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/29/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Abstract
Methylone (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylcathinone) is a rapid-acting entactogen that has been shown to have significant benefits in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder and is well tolerated in phase 1 clinical trials. A recent preclinical study reported that methylone produced robust antidepressant-like actions in naïve rats. However, its antidepressant effects on various stress-related psychopathologies and other neuropsychological actions remain unclear. In the present study, we examined the antidepressant-relevant effects of methylone in learned helplessness (LH) and social defeat stress C57BL/6J male mouse models and further explored its sociability-relevant neuropsychological actions. Our results indicate that methylone produces antidepressant-relevant effects on the helpless phenotype, LH-evoked depressive-like behaviors, and psychosocial stress-induced social avoidance, and induced depressive-like behaviors. In addition, methylone was found to enhance social preference and increase various social behaviors, including social contact, sniffing, allogrooming, and following. Moreover, methylone appeared to elevate empathy-like phenotypes and was also found to increase helping-like behavior. Overall, the present results suggest that methylone plays an antidepressant-like role in various stress-relevant psychopathologies and could be an ideal antidepressant candidate. In addition, novel findings on the elevated tendencies of social preference and empathy-like and helping-like phenotypes reveal that methylone may have potential application in patients with social deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenlong Li
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhuhai Campus of Zunyi Medical University, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China.
| | - Hsien-Yu Peng
- Department of Medicine, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei, Taiwan.
| | - Chau-Shoun Lee
- Department of Medicine, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, MacKay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
| | - Tzer-Bin Lin
- Institute of New Drug Development, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Cell Physiology and Molecular Image Research Center, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
| | - Ming-Chun Hsieh
- Department of Medicine, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei, Taiwan.
| | - Cheng-Yuan Lai
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei, Taiwan.
| | - Han-Fang Wu
- Department of Optometry, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei, Taiwan.
| | - Lih-Chyang Chen
- Department of Medicine, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei, Taiwan.
| | - Mei-Ci Chen
- Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan.
| | - Dylan Chou
- Department of Medicine, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei, Taiwan.
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Kitamura T, Ramesh K, Terranova JI. Understanding Others' Distress Through Past Experiences: The Role of Memory Engram Cells in Observational Fear. ADVANCES IN NEUROBIOLOGY 2024; 38:215-234. [PMID: 39008018 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-62983-9_12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/16/2024]
Abstract
For individuals to survive and function in society, it is essential that they recognize, interact with, and learn from other conspecifics. Observational fear (OF) is the well-conserved empathic ability of individuals to understand the other's aversive situation. While it is widely known that factors such as prior similar aversive experience and social familiarity with the demonstrator facilitate OF, the neural circuit mechanisms that explicitly regulate experience-dependent OF (Exp OF) were unclear. In this review, we examine the neural circuit mechanisms that regulate OF, with an emphasis on rodent models, and then discuss emerging evidence for the role of fear memory engram cells in the regulation of Exp OF. First, we examine the neural circuit mechanisms that underlie Naive OF, which is when an observer lacks prior experiences relevant to OF. In particular, the anterior cingulate cortex to basolateral amygdala (BLA) neural circuit is essential for Naive OF. Next, we discuss a recent study that developed a behavioral paradigm in mice to examine the neural circuit mechanisms that underlie Exp OF. This study found that fear memory engram cells in the BLA of observers, which form during a prior similar aversive experience with shock, are reactivated by ventral hippocampal neurons in response to shock delivery to the familiar demonstrator to elicit Exp OF. Finally, we discuss the implications of fear memory engram cells in Exp OF and directions of future research that are of both translational and basic interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takashi Kitamura
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
- Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
| | - Kritika Ramesh
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
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Lim KY, Hong W. Neural mechanisms of comforting: Prosocial touch and stress buffering. Horm Behav 2023; 153:105391. [PMID: 37301130 PMCID: PMC10853048 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2023.105391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2023] [Revised: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Comforting is a crucial form of prosocial behavior that is important for maintaining social unity and improving the physical and emotional well-being of social species. It is often expressed through affiliative social touch toward someone in distress, providing relief for their distressed state. In the face of increasing global distress, these actions are paramount to the continued improvement of individual welfare and the collective good. Understanding the neural mechanisms responsible for promoting actions focused on benefitting others is particularly important and timely. Here, we review prosocial comforting behavior, emphasizing synthesizing recent studies carried out using rodent models. We discuss its underlying behavioral expression and motivations, and then explore both the neurobiology of prosocial comforting in a helper animal and the neurobiology of stress relief following social touch in a recipient as part of a feedback loop interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kayla Y Lim
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Weizhe Hong
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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Yan Z. A physiological cause to empathy deficits in a mouse model of FTD. Neuron 2023; 111:757-758. [PMID: 36924759 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.01.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/17/2023]
Abstract
Loss of empathy is a core behavioral symptom of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). In this issue of Neuron, a study by Phillips et al.1 reveals that hypoactivity of dorsomedial prefrontal cortex is causally linked to empathy deficits in a mouse model of FTD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhen Yan
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, State University of New York at Buffalo, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA.
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Lost empathy in FTD linked to prefrontal hypoexcitability. Nat Rev Neurol 2023; 19:128. [PMID: 36732483 DOI: 10.1038/s41582-023-00780-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
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