Empathy evolved from parenting?

A study in the US has found that the brain circuits that regulate parental care also control how mice care for other adults, providing a better understanding of social connections and how they can be disrupted.

Researchers from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) found that mice that spent more time caring for their pups also spent more time comforting other adult mice previously submitted to stressful situations. 

By measuring the mice’s brain activity, they found that a region of the brain known to be involved in parenting behaviour – the medial preoptic area – is activated during prosocial behaviour towards adults, which are voluntary actions that benefit others.

By controlling the neurons in this brain region using optogenetics, a technique which can control brain activity with light, the researchers showed that when this area was not activated, mice cared less for stressed adults. 

These findings, published in Nature, provide a direct link supporting the evolutionary hypothesis that empathy evolved from parental care, which likely happens in humans too. 

Future research will address the therapeutic potential of manipulating these brain circuits for brain disorders that affect social behaviour, such as depression and schizophrenia.