A new mouse model to study the empathic fear and pain behavior
作者机构：State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine
出 版 物：《中国药理学与毒理学杂志》 (Chinese Journal of Pharmacology and Toxicology)
年 卷 期：2023年第37卷第7期
页 面：551-551页
学科分类：1002[医学-临床医学] 100205[医学-精神病与精神卫生学] 10[医学]
摘 要：OBJECTIVE Human beings possess the ability to indirectly acquire the emotions of others. This also known as emotional contagion or empathy, enables us to rapidly perceive the emotions of others. However,an excessive empathy may result in heightened fear and sensitivity to pain. Therefore, the establishment of appropriate animal models for analyzing neural mechanisms underlying empathy would contribute to pharmacological research on pain sensitivity caused by psychological susceptibility. METHODS We used the observed fear paradigm for assessing contagion of negative emotions in mice. To minimize the impact of emotional contagion differences caused by the subject change, we established a bilateral observation area and the two mice were trained to observe fear simultaneously. First, two observer(OB)mice were placed on either side of the observational area.Next, a demonstrator(DM) mouse was introduced into the cylindrical shock cage located at the center of the apparatus. The shock cage is made of transparent organic plastic with air holes and has provided ample space for free movement by the DM mouse. During the shock stage, DM mice were subjected to electric stimulation while the behaviors of OB mice on both sides was observed, including freezing, the side and corner time,social interaction behavior. Additionally, c-Fos staining was utilized to confirm distinct local brain activities.RESULTS In the habituation stage, OB mice on both sides showed more social preference for DM mouse, as evidenced by an increase in duration time in the designated interaction zone. During the shock phase, OB mice observed the DM mouse receiving electric shocks and displayed significantly higher levels of fear contagion;however, their fear behavior was not entirely consistent.Some mice exhibited a significant increase in freezing time, while others demonstrated a significant increase in corner and side exploration time. We utilized Z-normalization to evaluate changes in emotionality across various behaviors and identified mice with distinct susceptibilities. Fos-positive neurons exhibited higher expression levels in susceptible OB mice, primarily concentrated within brain regions associated with the ascending pathways of pain perception, such as thalamus, the anterior insular cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex. CONCLUSION In this study, we have developed an innovative experimental facility that integrates various behavioral tests to evaluate empathic behavior in mice. Our findings highlight the robustness of emotionality measures obtained from individual mice by combining this experimental model with the Z-scoring method, facilitating screening for empathic fear or pain-susceptible mice and will helpful for pharmacological evaluation.
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