Bad memories drive lab rats to rescue drenched companions faster

[Judi Lynn]

Bad memories drive lab rats to rescue drenched companions faster
21:00 14 May 2015 by Penny Sarchet

Looking like a drowned rat? Never fear, a dry rat may come to your rescue.

An experiment testing whether empathy can drive behaviour in rats has found that, when a dry rat observes a distressed rat trapped in a wet chamber, it will free it from its cage.

Not only are these rats willing to help others, they do so faster if they themselves have previously suffered a soaking.

"This suggests that knowing that soaking is distressing enhances the rats' motivation to help their cage mate," says Nobuya Sato of Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan. "We think this comes from empathy."

More:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27533-bad-memories-drive-lab-rats-to-rescue-drenched-companions-faster.html#.VVZ0jGdFCbw

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Wow. Rats show more empathy than Republicans.

In fact, one could readily argue that the rats' behavior goes beyond empathy to compassion--they not only feel the other's distress, but they are moved to do something about it.

[truebluegreen]

2. Beat me to it.

Let's hear it for the rats!

[Fumesucker]

4. Not just Republicans I fear...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026676265

[HubertHeaver]

3. So, Calling a republican a rat is

really insulting to all rats.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Or needlessly ennobling Republicans.

And I do know the backstory behind your username. I always wondered if that was actually a slip on Von Zell's part or just a slick little stab of the tongue that he got away with.

Anyway, it's hard for me to think of ol' Herbert without that alternative pronunciation coming to mind.