Oxytocin administration modulates rats’ helping behavior depending on social context
Abstract
The affiliative effect of oxytocin on behavior toward other individuals can be modulated by positive and negative aspects of those individuals. However, the context-dependent effect of oxytocin on helping behavior is still unclear. In this study, we examined the effect of oxytocin administration on helping behavior in rats. The rats learned to open a door to help a cagemate soaked with water. The rats were divided into Pair and Solo groups. The rats in the Pair group were housed with their cagemates and those in the Solo group were housed individually. The rats in both groups received oxytocin (1.0 mg/kg) or saline injections intraperitoneally for 5 consecutive days before starting the experimental sessions. In the rats injected with oxytocin, the Solo group showed helping behavior faster than those in the Pair group. The results suggest that the effects of oxytocin administration on helping behavior are dependent on the social context.
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Various factors of social context are involved in empathy.
“Various factors of social context are involved in empathy (Bartal et al., 2014; Yamagishi et al., 2019).”
From Helping behavior in prairie voles: a model of empathy and the importance of oxytocin (2022) · cites this paper as Yamagishi et al., 2019
Rats display as much helping behavior toward strangers as toward cagemates.
“Rats display as much helping behavior toward strangers as toward cagemates (Bartal et al., 2014; Yamagishi et al., 2019).”
From Helping behavior in prairie voles: a model of empathy and the importance of oxytocin (2022) · cites this paper as Yamagishi et al., 2019
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References 62 · Cited by 33
- Authors
- Yamagishi, A., Okada, M., Masuda, M., & Sato, N.
- Affiliations
- Kwansei Gakuin University (JP)
- Corresponding author
- Sato, Nobuya
- ORCID
- Sato, Nobuya
- Venue
- Neuroscience Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-04
- Volume
- 153
- Pages
- 56-61
- ISSN
- 0168-0102 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2932733776
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 5
- FWCI
- 4.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neuroscience Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- oxytocin, helping behavior, social environment, affiliative behavior, social isolation, rats, social bonding, prosocial behavior
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Behavior, Animal, Empathy, Helping Behavior, Learning, Male, Oxytocin, Rats
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