Neural activation associated with outgroup helping in adolescent rats
Jocelyn M. Breton,
Jordan S. Eisner,
Vaidehi S. Gandhi,
Natalie Musick,
Aileen Zhang,
Kimberly L.P. Long,
Olga S. Perloff,
Kelsey Y. Hu,
Chau M. Pham,
Pooja Lalchandani,
Matthew K. Barraza,
Ben Kantor,
Daniela Kaufer,
Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal
Affiliations
Jocelyn M. Breton
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Jordan S. Eisner
Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Vaidehi S. Gandhi
Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Natalie Musick
Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Aileen Zhang
Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Kimberly L.P. Long
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Olga S. Perloff
Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Kelsey Y. Hu
Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Chau M. Pham
Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Pooja Lalchandani
Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Matthew K. Barraza
Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Ben Kantor
School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, 6997801
Daniela Kaufer
Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ON M5G1M1, Canada
Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal
School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, 6997801; Corresponding author
Summary: Prosocial behavior, helping others in need in particular, occurs preferentially in response to the perceived distress of one’s own group members or ingroup. To investigate the development of ingroup bias, neural activity during a helping test was analyzed in adolescent and adult rats. Although adults selectively released trapped ingroup members, adolescent rats helped both ingroup and outgroup members, suggesting that ingroup bias emerges in adulthood. Analysis of brain-wide neural activity, indexed by expression of the early-immediate gene c-Fos, revealed increased activity for ingroup members across a broad set of regions previously associated with empathy. Adolescents showed reduced hippocampal and insular activity and increased orbitofrontal cortex activity compared to adults. Non-helper adolescents demonstrated increased amygdala connectivity. These findings demonstrate that biases for group-dependent prosocial behavior develop with age in rats and suggest that specific brain regions contribute to prosocial selectivity, pointing to possible targets for the functional modulation of ingroup bias.
