“Emotional contagion, which refers to emotional state matching between individuals, is a powerful mechanism for information sharing and, as a consequence, an increased defense against predation and the facilitation of group living,” Adriaense and her colleagues wrote in the paper.
Ravens are already well-known for their advanced cognitive skills, and are often cast as intelligent spirits in cross-cultural myths and folklore. But in addition to inspiring admiration from humans, the new study reveals that ravens are clearly in tune with each others’ feelings—especially when they are miffed.
Raven observers show emotional contagion with raven demonstrators experiencing an unpleasant affect"
To effectively navigate the social world, we need information about each other’s emotions. Emotional contagion has been suggested to facilitate such information transmission, constituting a basic building block of empathy that could also be present in non-human animals. Most animal studies have faced difficulties in measuring the emotional valence in contagion.
A collaboration between cognitive biologists and social neuroscientists at University of Vienna solves this problem by integrating behavioral and psychological methods. They show that ravens observing a conspecific in a negative emotional state subsequently perform in a pessimistic manner on a judgment task. The results of this study have been published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
People often report that it seems their dogs are reading their emotional states and responding in much the same way a human would, offering sympathy and comfort when it is needed or joining in their joy when there is cause for celebration. Such was the case with Deborah, an acquaintance of mine who told me the following story.
Deborah had just gotten off the phone after learning that her sister's husband had died. Stunned by the news, she sat on the sofa and found herself wiping tears from her eyes while she tried to deal with her sadness. Deborah told me, “At that moment, Angus [her Golden Retriever] came over to me and laid his head on my knee and began to whimper.
A moment later he quietly walked away and then returned with one of his favourite toys and softly put it in my lap and then gently licked my hand. I knew he was trying to comfort me. I believe that he was feeling my pain and hoping that the toy, one which made him happy, might also help me to feel better.
Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience have demonstrated that specific neurons in the rat brain are active both when a rat experiences pain itself and when it observes another rat in pain. The results, published today in Current Biology, suggest that sharing the emotions of others is a common mammalian trait.
Neuroimaging studies in humans show that a region called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is active both when we feel pain and when we witness the pain of others. This could mean that the ACC contains mirror neurons – cells that fire when we experience pain and also when we see the pain of others.
But we can’t test this theory in humans. Recording the activity of individual neurons in the human brain is not possible, nor can scientists modulate activity in the human ACC to determine whether the region is responsible for empathy.
So neuroscientist Christian Keysers and his colleagues turned to rats.
For a long time, people believed that empathy is a uniquely human sentiment that sets us apart as a more moral species. More recent observations chip away at this notion. Dramatic anecdotes surfaced of chimpanzees risking to drown in heroic attempts to rescue fellow chimpanzees in aquatic peril.
Studies showed rats, not known to be the most noble of moral beings, invest considerable effort to free fellow rats from a trap (see Do Rats Have Compassion). Indeed, emotions are contagious amongst rats: if one rat receives a mild, but startling electrical shock, it gets scared and freezes; it stops all movements. Rats do so to avoid being detected by the main danger their encounter: predators. What is fascinating is that rats that witness the fear of another rat have been observed also to freeze.
Somehow, the fear of one rat is transferred to other, nearby rats, just like we get nervous around nervous people. This observation paved the way to looking into the brains of humans and rats to see what mechanisms make emotions so travel from one individual to another, and understand if these mechanisms are similar across man and rat.
Empathy... feeling what others feel.. the supreme quality of a human being and the root of human social morality... the essence of religion, ethics, conception of good and evil, of what's good and what's bad... What if I told you it is not of human origin, and humans are not the only ones to share it?
Comparative studies suggest that at least some bird species have evolved mental skills similar to those found in humans and apes. This is indicated by feats such as tool use, episodic-like memory, and the ability to use one's own experience in predicting the behavior of conspecifics. It is, however, not yet clear whether these skills are accompanied by an understanding of the self.
In apes, self-directed behavior in response to a mirror has been taken as evidence of self-recognition. We investigated mirror-induced behavior in the magpie, a songbird species from the crow family. As in apes, some individuals behaved in front of the mirror as if they were testing behavioral contingencies.
When provided with a mark, magpies showed spontaneous mark-directed behavior. Our findings provide the first evidence of mirror self-recognition in a non-mammalian species. They suggest that essential components of human self-recognition have evolved independently in different vertebrate classes with a separate evolutionary history.
According to a new study by European researchers, meat-eaters have less empathy—for both animals and people—than vegetarians and vegans do. The researchers recruited 60 volunteers—20 meat-eaters, 21 vegans, and 19 vegetarians—and placed them into an MRI machine while showing them a series of random pictures.
The MRI scans revealed that, when observing animal or human suffering, the “empathy-related” areas of the brain are more active among vegetarians and vegans. The researchers even found that there are certain brain areas that only vegans and vegetarians seem to activate when witnessing suffering—animal or human. The vegetarians and vegans also scored significantly higher on an empathy quotient questionnaire than the meat-eaters did.
I have never understood why when I explain to someone why I choose not to eat animals, their responses are commonly aggressive. This study, however, describes why it might be the case.
Recognizing we would be most effective working together, the Seattle Aquarium, Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, and Woodland Park Zoo launched Measuring Empathy: the Collaborative Assessment Project (MECAP). This grant-funded partnership aimed to create a collective understanding of the best practices for building and measuring empathy at zoos and aquariums. Over the two-year project, we set out to answer some of our most pressing questions:
What is empathy in the context of zoos and aquariums, and how does it differ from other emotional connections with nature? How can we make empathy-related work more specific, intentional and effective, both within and across our institutions? How do we know that we’re being successful in building empathy towards wildlife among our visitors?
Many dogs show empathy if their owner is in distress and will also try to help rescue them. This is according to Emily M. Sanford, formerly of Macalester College and now at Johns Hopkins University in the US. She is the lead author of a study in Springer’s journal Learning and Behavior that tested whether there is truth in the notion that dogs have a prosocial and empathetic nature. Interesting to note, the study found that dogs specially trained for visitations as therapy dogs are just as likely to help as other dogs.
In one of their experiments, Sanford and her colleagues instructed the owners of 34 dogs to either give distressed cries or to hum while sitting behind a see-through closed door. Sixteen of these dogs were registered therapy dogs. The researchers watched what the dogs did, and also measured their heart rate variability to see how they physically reacted to the situation. In another part of the experiment, the researchers examined how these same dogs gazed at their owners to measure the strength of their relationship.
many dogs show empathy if their owner is in danger and also try to help rescue them. The study, therefore, provides evidence that dogs not only feel empathy toward people, but in some cases also act on that empathy.
Researchers observed the dogs' responses and measured their heart rates. In a followup experiment, researchers analyzed how dogs looked at their owners to gauge the strength of their relationship.
The results showed dogs were equally likely to open the door in response to both crying and humming. However, dogs opened the door more quickly when reacting to their owners' cries. Dogs with lower stress responses to crying were more likely to open the door and open it quickly.
Researchers also found dogs with the strongest bond with their owners were more faster to open the door.
Raven observers show emotional contagion with raven demonstrators experiencing an unpleasant affect"
To effectively navigate the social world, we need information about each other’s emotions. Emotional contagion has been suggested to facilitate such information transmission, constituting a basic building block of empathy that could also be present in non-human animals. Most animal studies have faced difficulties in measuring the emotional valence in contagion.
A collaboration between cognitive biologists and social neuroscientists at University of Vienna solves this problem by integrating behavioral and psychological methods. They show that ravens observing a conspecific in a negative emotional state subsequently perform in a pessimistic manner on a judgment task. The results of this study have been published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
Summary: Study reports the anterior cingulate cortex of rats contain mirror neurons that respond to pain experienced by and observations of others.
Why is it that we can get sad when we see someone else crying? Why is it that we wince when a friend cuts his finger? Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience have found that the rat brain activates the same cells when they observe the pain of others as when they experience pain themselves.
In addition, without the activity of these “mirror neurons”, the animals no longer share the pain of others. As many psychiatric disorders are characterized by a lack of empathy, finding the neural basis for sharing the emotions of others, and being able to modify how much an animal shares the emotions of others, is an exciting step towards understanding empathy and these disorders.
The findings will be published in the leading journal Current Biology on April 11th.
Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience have found that the rat brain activates the same cells when they observe the pain of others as when they experience pain themselves. In addition, without the activity of these mirror neurons, the animals no longer share the pain of others. Finding the neural basis for sharing the emotions of others is an exciting step toward understanding empathy.
De Waal writes about primate empathy, rivalry, bonding, sex and murder in his new book, Mama's Last Hug. The title of the book was inspired by a tender interaction between a dying 59-year-old chimp named Mama and de Waal's mentor, Jan van Hooff, who had known Mama for more than 40 years.
"People were surprised [by] how humanlike the expression of Mama was and how humanlike her gestures were," de Waal says of the interaction. "I thought, 'Well, everyone knows that chimps are our closest relative, so why wouldn't the way they express their emotions be extremely similar to ours?' But people were surprised by that."
To launch this project, Woodland Park Zoo is hosting a symposium January 22 - 24, 2019 in Seattle, WA to bring together experts in a range of topics (animal welfare, behavioral psychology, empathy, conservation) with representatives from zoos and aquariums from across the country.
The symposium will:
Provide introduction and training to the previous work done by the Empathy Initiative,
Facilitate discussion about animal welfare and the perception of welfare,
Provide continuous learning for interested organizations.
We share 99% of our DNA with the chimpanzee and the bonobo. And yet we're often surprised to learn that apes, like us, can be both kind and clever. Behavioural biologist and best-selling author, Frans de Waal has spent many years observing our closest living animal relatives. He pioneered studies of kindness and peace-making in primates, when other scientists were focussing on violence, greed and aggression.
Empathy, he argues, has a long evolutionary history; and he is determined to undermine our arrogant assumptions of human superiority. Frans talks to Jim Al-Khalili about growing up on the Dutch polders, chimpanzee politics, and the extraordinary sex lives of the bonobos.
To launch this project, Woodland Park Zoo is hosting a symposium January 22 - 24, 2019 in Seattle, WA to bring together experts in a range of topics (animal welfare, behavioral psychology, empathy, conservation) with representatives from zoos and aquariums from across the country.
The symposium will:
Provide introduction and training to the previous work done by the Empathy Initiative, Facilitate discussion about animal welfare and the perception of welfare,
Provide continuous learning for interested organizations.
Issues of mental health, well-being, and suicide among vets are important ones that veterinary organizations worldwide have made a priority.
I understand that the stresses our equine vets face are just a piece of the puzzle, but it’s a valuable piece. As several of my sources for the feature story said, owners need not feel responsible for their vets’ mental health or well-being. But a little effort to understand the professionals who care for our horses, a little perspective, a little empathy, never hurt anyone.
Find more about Science and Cocktails, and awesome science talks at Do animals show empathy?
Are there any signs of morality in animal societies?
Can a monkey. Empathy, cooperation, fairness and reciprocity -- caring about the well-being of others seems like a very human trait.
But Frans de Waal shares some surprising videos of. Science journalist Lone Frank speaks with professor Frans de Waal, who is doing research into non-human animals and non-human animal behaviour at Emory University i Atlanta, Georgia, among.
What happens when you pay two monkeys unequally? Watch what happens. An excerpt from the TED Talk: "Frans de Waal: Moral behavior in animals." Watch the whole talk here:
Dogs were found to be more emotionally attuned to their owners and would rush to comfort them when the animals sense something is wrong.
A study on this behavior, titled “Timmy’s in the well: Empathy and prosocial helping in dogs,” was published in the journal Learning and Behavior. The researchers observed how dogs would react if their owners exhibited signs of distress.
During their experiments, dogs were placed in an enclosure with a clear glass door. The researchers measured how the animals would react after seeing and hearing their owners through the door. The dogs could also go to their master through the magnetized door. The researchers found half of the dogs would approach their respective owners immediately upon seeing them through a clear glass door. However, they also found the dogs would rush to their owners three times faster when they hear crying.
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