Study indicates that empathy has ancient origins — and fish feel it too

Did you think that humans are the only species capable of showing empathy? Think again!

Some fish also show it. That’s the finding of a recent study published in the journal Science.

Researchers from the Instituto Gulbenkian de Cincia (Portugal) conducted several types of experiments on a species of zebrafish to study the role that oxytocin production plays in their ability to feel empathy. More precisely, their ability to transmit the emotion of fear. A phenomenon that the authors of the work refer to using the term “emotional contagion,” that is to say “the most ancestral form of empathy,” they specify.

In their experiments, the researchers concluded that oxytocin is both …

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