Anti-Anxiety Medication Limits Empathetic Behavior in Rats (VIDEO)

University of Chicago Medical Center

Caption

UChicago neuroscientist Peggy Mason studies empathy -- specifically how rats (and presumably other mammals like humans) show empathy toward each other. But in a new study, rats that were given anti-anxiety medications didn't free a companion in distress, showing that they have to be able to feel the anxiety of their fellow rats to help out.

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Matt Wood, University of Chicago Medicine

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