Mice can catch both negative and positive emotions from one another: Study

New research has shown that mice can mirror each other's emotions and behave in the same way as their companion. According to the study published in the journal Science, research suggests that a mouse can transfer or pick emotions of pain, fear, and even pain relief through short social contact. For example, if a fearful or unhealthy mouse comes in contact with another mouse, the fear or pain can be transfer and the other one will feel the same. This comes after decades of the study showed that animals can "catch" each other's emotions.

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'ACC generates emphatic responses' 

Earlier, a study had shown that ravens can transfer negative emotions among each other, but not positive ones. However, with the new research among mice, it can now be said that animals have the ability to catch and pick both negative and positive emotions such as pain, fear, and pain relief. According to the study, neurons in a brain region called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in the bystander animal triggers the transfer of emotions. 

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According to the study, the anterior cingulate cortex, present in both humans and rodents, encodes the information about the emotions in others. However, it is unclear exactly in ACC what contributes to the transfer of those emotions. Researchers conducted experiments to determine which downstream targets of the ACC contribute to empathy-related behaviors. 

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"We established that mice rapidly adopt the sensory-affective state of a social partner, regardless of the valance of the information (that is, pain, fear, or pain relief). We find that the ACC generates specific and appropriate empathic behavioral responses through distinct downstream targets. Specifically, ACC-to-NAc input activity is necessary for the social transfer of pain and analgesia but not the social transfer of fear, which instead requires ACC-to-BLA input activity," the study said. 

The study is expected to help scientists develop more therapies related to empathy deficit in humans. Empathy is an essential component of social communication that involves experiencing others’ sensory and emotional states.

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