Empathy in rodents

Abstract

Empathy is considered to be crucial not only for having a good interpersonal relationship in a daily life but also for comprehending our human society. Empathy in rodents is one of recent hot topics in the field of experimental psychology and neuroscience. This article provides a brief overview of the recent studies of emotional contagion and prosocial behavior in rodents, with a particular interest in its methodological aspect. Additionally, the article also introduces recent studies that investigate the neural mechanisms underlying these processes. Finally, I briefly discuss the significance of using rodents in research of an empathic process as well as more general mental processes.