Social contagion of pain and fear results in opposite social behaviors in rodents: meta- analysis of experimental studies

Bibliographic Details
Title: Social contagion of pain and fear results in opposite social behaviors in rodents: meta- analysis of experimental studies
Authors: Rui Du, Yang Yu, Xiao-Liang Wang, Guofang Lu, Jun Chen
Source: Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol 18 (2024)
Publisher Information: Frontiers Media S.A., 2024.
Publication Year: 2024
Collection: LCC:Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Subject Terms: empathy, fear, pain, emotional contagion, emotional valence, helping behavior, Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry, RC321-571
More Details: IntroductionThe study aimed to explore the key factors influencing emotional valence in rodents, focusing on the critical elements that distinguish the contagion processes of fear and pain.MethodsThrough a systematic review and meta-analysis, we examined behavioral outcomes of rodents exposed to painful or fearful catastrophes to see whether they are prosocial or antisocial through three-chamber test and dyadic social interaction paradigm.ResultsFear contagion, particularly when witnessed, leads to social avoidance behavior, unaffected by sex difference but more pronounced with age. In contrast, pain contagion promotes social approach and caring/helping behaviors.DiscussionThe present study demonstrates that the emotional valence induced by pain contagion is quite different from fear contagion and this difference may result in different motivations and social behaviors, namely, social contagion of pain is likely to be more associated with prosocial behaviors, however, social contagion of fear is likely to be more associated with antisocial behaviors.Systematic Review RegistrationPROSPERO (CRD42024566326).
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1662-5153
Relation: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1478456/full; https://doaj.org/toc/1662-5153
DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1478456
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/1e18a183bd324c0983ffd620ea5f4b2d
Accession Number: edsdoj.1e18a183bd324c0983ffd620ea5f4b2d
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:16625153
DOI:10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1478456
Published in:Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
Language:English