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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 26, 2026

Observational Fear as a Model of Affective Empathy in Mice

Observational Fear as a Model of Affective Empathy in Mice

Published on: November 22, 2024

Empathy and pro-social behavior in rats.

Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal¹, Jean Decety, Peggy Mason

¹Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|December 14, 2011

Summary

Rats demonstrate pro-social behavior by intentionally freeing trapped cagemates. This study provides evidence for empathically motivated helping behavior in rodents, suggesting deep evolutionary roots for altruism.

Area of Science:

Ethology
Comparative psychology
Neuroscience

Background:

Human pro-sociality is often linked to empathic concern.
The presence of similar motivational states in nonprimate mammals remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether rats exhibit empathically motivated pro-social behavior.
To determine if rodents help distressed conspecifics.

Main Methods:

A free rat was placed in an arena with a trapped cagemate.
The free rat's behavior in response to the trapped cagemate was observed over multiple sessions.
Control conditions included empty restrainers and restrainers with objects.

Main Results:

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Free rats learned to intentionally and rapidly open restrainers to free trapped cagemates.

Rats did not open empty or object-containing restrainers, indicating specific social motivation.

Rats freed cagemates even without direct social contact and shared rewards when available.

Conclusions:

Rats exhibit pro-social behavior in response to a conspecific's distress.
This provides strong evidence for the biological roots of empathically motivated helping behavior in mammals.
Findings suggest that empathic helping may have evolved prior to primate lineage.