A Mouse Model for Observational Fear Learning and the Empathetic Response
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Abstract
Research on observed fear and its relation to human mental disorders has been hampered by the lack of a suitable animal model. The empathetic response, which is impaired in various mental disorders, requires the ability to recognize the emotions and feelings of others. Due to the lack of a robust behavioral assay system, studies of empathy in laboratory animals have been absent from the literature. This unit describes a protocol for assessing social observational fear learning as a precursor of empathy in the mouse. In this assay, the observer animal is conditioned for context?dependent fear by observing the behavior of the demonstrator animal receiving aversive stimuli. The magnitude of the fear response of the observer is positively influenced by the animal's familiarity with the demonstrator. This indicates that the degree of familiarity, and its relationship to empathy, can be modeled in an animal system by a method relevant to human disease. Curr. Protoc. Neurosci. 57:8.27.1?8.27.9. © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Keywords: context?dependent fear conditioning; empathy; familiarity; social learning; social fear; observational fear
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Figure 8.27.1 Photographs of typical equipment used for observational fear conditioning in the mouse. (A ) A sound‐attenuating cubicle for observational fear conditioning. (B ) Observational fear‐conditioning chambers and computer‐controlled, programmable animal shocker system (above the cubicle; Med‐Associates). (C ) VCR camera for video monitoring or digital‐recording system showing the inside of the chamber. (D ) Observational fear‐conditioning chambers partitioned equally by a transparent Plexiglas in the middle. (E ) A photograph showing an observer and a demonstrator moving freely during a habituation period. (F ) A photograph showing an observer and a demonstrator during a training period; the observer in the left chamber is displaying freezing behavior. View Image -
Figure 8.27.2 Data obtained from male C57BL/6J mice (nonsiblings) showing fear responses during observational fear learning. (A ) Observational fear learning in observers using a transparent or opaque partition during a 4‐min training period following the 5‐min habituation period. (B ) Contextual memory test showing freezing behavior of the observers exposed to the same chamber 24 hr after training. A transparent or opaque partition is used. (C ) Freezing behavior of the observers exposed to a different chamber 24 hr after training with a transparent partition. All data are shown as means ± SEMs. Data modified from Jeon et al. (). View Image -
Figure 8.27.3 Observational fear learning using nonsiblings, siblings, or female mating partners as demonstrators. A transparent partition is utilized. Freezing behavior during training (A ) and the 24‐hr contextual memory test (B ). In a noncouple experiment, unrelated female mice co‐housed with male mice in different mating cages were used as demonstrators. Freezing behavior during training (C ) and the 24‐hr contextual memory test (D ). All data are shown as means ± SEMs. Data modified from Jeon et al. (). View Image -
Figure 8.27.4 Data obtained from sibling and nonsibling female C57BL/6J mice showing fear responses during observational fear learning. A transparent partition is utilized. Freezing behavior during a training period (A ) and the 24‐hr contextual memory test (B ). All data are shown as means ± SEMs. View Image -
Figure 8.27.5 Data obtained from siblings and nonsiblings male 129S4/SvJae mice showing fear responses during observational fear learning. A transparent partition is utilized. Freezing behavior during a training period (A ) and the 24‐hr contextual memory test (B ). All data are shown as means ± SEMs. View Image
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Literature Cited
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