A young albino rat is separated from its litter and placed in a litter of black-hooded rats. Until it reaches adulthood, the albino rat will interact exclusively with a black-caped mother and littermates.
If the rat has the opportunity to help another rat, will it prefer helping someone from its own strain, or someone from the strain in which it was fostered?
Research from the University of Chicago shows rats will choose the latter.
The peer-reviewed study argues that rats choose whom to help based on social experiences rather than genetics.
The research, published in the open access eLife Journal this week, stems from a 2011 study also done at U. of C. that suggested rats exhibited empathylike behavior by trying to free their cage mate from a restrainer. In the more recent study, researchers wanted to see if rats would extend that behavior to strangers, said Peggy Mason, a professor of neurobiology who was on the research team.
