Stress 'stops empathy for strangers'

In separate tests in mice and people, empathy towards strangers increased when stress hormones were blocked by a drug. Playing a fun video game with a stranger was found to have a similar effect to the drug. The Canadian and American research team published their findings in Current Biology. Previous studies have shown that the ability to feel or share someone else's pain is not something unique to humans. Mice can feel empathy too.

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