Empathy for pain: behavioral, neurochemical and hormonal approaches

• Grant number: 15/00006-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2015
• End date: November 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology - Neuropsychopharmacology
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Azair Liane Matos Do Canto de Souza
• Grantee: Daniela Baptista de Souza
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 18/04775-0 - The role of central nucleus of amygdaloid complex in hyperalgesic priming, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The ability to capture emotional signals in the other is directly related to the survival of the species, and this feature is given the name of empathy. In addition, in some types of relevant psychiatric disorders, empathy ability is impaired, such as the antisocial personality disorder (psychopathy) and autism spectrum disorders. Similarly to humans, animals exhibit behaviors related to common, specifically rodents which exhibit modulation of emotional social behaviors. Thus, it has been shown that pain-related behaviors are bidirectionally influenced by other animal behavior, so to see a conspecific with pain can increase or decrease the sensation of pain in the observer mouse. Some studies showed hormonal changes related to empathy, the levels of corticosterone, testosterone and oxytocin. In addition, it has been shown that the insular cortex is also activated in those who are watching only potentially painful. Other structure directly related to nociceptive processes and empathy is the amygdala. Besides central nervous system structures, serotonergic, noradrenergic and dopaminergic neurotransmission is widely described as participants in processes related to emotions, nociception and pathophysiology of disorders related directly with empathetic behavioral deficits. Recently, our research group has shown that living with a conspecific in chronic pain is able to increase the nociceptive responses in animals subjected to the writhing test, and lead to an increase in anxiety. Moreover, we demonstrated that inhibition of the amygdala enhances hyperalgesiain this model, whereas inhibition of the insula attenuated this response. The objectives of this study are to investigate in animals subjected to contact with conspecific with neuropathic pain: (1) the specificity of increased nociceptive response, through the use of different tests (writhing test induced by intraperitoneal injection acid solution acetic acid 0.6% formalin paw test and the hot plate test); (2) plasma levels of corticosterone, testosterone and oxytocin; (3) levels of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine in the insula and amygdala and (4) the activity of the insula and amygdala through evaluation of transcription factors CREB and ERK by western blotting technique. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BENASSI-CEZAR, GIOVANA; CARMONA, ISABELA MIRANDA; BAPTISTA-DE-SOUZA, DANIELA; NUNES-DE-SOUZA, RICARDO LUIZ; CANTO-DE-SOUZA, AZAIR. Differential modulation of the anterior cingulate and insular cortices on anxiogenic-like responses induced by empathy for pain. Neuropharmacology, v. 192, JUL 1 2021. (17/25409-0, 15/00006-4)

BAPTISTA-DE-SOUZA, DANIELA; RODRIGUES TAVARES, LIGIA RENATA; CANTO-DE-SOUZA, LUCAS; NUNES-DE-SOUZA, RICARDO LUIZ; CANTO-DE-SOUZA, AZAIR. Behavioral, hormonal, and neural alterations induced by social contagion for pain in mice. Neuropharmacology, v. 203, FEB 1 2022. (16/08665-0, 17/25409-0, 15/00006-4)

SILVEIRA, LARA MARIA; TAVARES, LIGIA RENATA RODRIGUES; BAPTISTA-DE-SOUZA, DANIELA; CARMONA, ISABELA MIRANDA; DE OLIVEIRA, PAULO EDUARDO CARNEIRO; NUNES-DE-SOUZA, RICARDO LUIZ; CANTO-DE-SOUZA, AZAIR. Anterior cingulate cortex, but not amygdala, modulates the anxiogenesis induced by living with conspecifics subjected to chronic restraint stress in male mice. FRONTIERS IN BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE, v. 16, p. 16-pg., 2023-01-06. (17/25409-0, 15/00006-4)