Oxytocin, known as the “love hormone,” is more accurately described as a “thermostat that determines what is socially salient in a particular situation.” The hormone activates neural circuits that can make an animal run from danger or engage in courtship behavior. The ability to sense and respond to the emotions of others, such as contagious fear, is crucial for survival for animals that live in groups, like fish. A recent study demonstrated that fish can detect fear in other fish, and that this ability is regulated by oxytocin, the same chemical that underlies empathy in humans. When genes linked to oxytocin production and absorption were deleted from zebrafish, a tropical fish often used in research, they were unable to detect other fish’s emotions, but their ability to sense and respond to other fish’s feelings was restored when they were given oxytocin injections. This ability is called “emotional contagion” and is similar to how humans respond to others’ emotions.
Fish can sense fear in others, and it is regulated by oxytocin
According to a study published in the journal Science, fish can detect fear in other fish and respond to it, thanks to oxytocin, the same brain chemical that underlies empathy in humans. The researchers conducted experiments on zebrafish, a tropical fish often used for research, by deleting genes that produce and absorb oxytocin. The results showed that these fish were unable to detect other fish’s emotions, but when they were given oxytocin injections, their ability to sense and respond to other fish’s feelings was restored. This ability is called “emotional contagion” and is similar to how humans respond to others’ emotions.
The study also demonstrated that zebrafish pay more attention to fish that have been stressed before, showing that they have a tendency to console them. While scientists have been hesitant to attribute human-like feelings to animals, it is accepted that animals have moods, including fish.
The research is significant because it shows that the mechanisms underlying human abilities to feel fear, love, and empathy are ancient pathways that have existed for millions of years. The brain processing involved in detecting and responding to emotions may have been in place around 450 million years ago, when humans and fish last shared a common ancestor.
Hans Hofmann, an evolutionary neuroscientist at the University of Texas at Austin, who was not involved in the study, stated that “Some of the mechanisms that underlie our ability to experience fear, or fall in and out of love, are clearly very ancient pathways.” The findings of this research illustrate “the ancestral role” of oxytocin in transmitting emotions, said Rui Oliveira, a behavioral biologist at Portugal’s Gulbenkian Institute of Science and a co-author of the study.
Oxytocin and Social Salience
While oxytocin is sometimes referred to as the “love hormone,” it is more accurately described as a “thermostat that determines what is socially salient in a particular situation,” according to Hans Hofmann, an evolutionary neuroscientist at the University of Texas at Austin. This means that oxytocin activates neural circuits that can either make an animal run from danger or engage in courtship behavior. For animals that live in groups, such as fish, the ability to sense and respond to the emotions of others, such as contagious fear, is crucial for survival.
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