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Empathy and prosocial behavior powered by orexin-driven theta oscillations.

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Title: Empathy and prosocial behavior powered by orexin-driven theta oscillations.
Authors: Kim, Jae Gon (AUTHOR), Cron, Greg O. (AUTHOR), Kim, Minsoo (AUTHOR), Hossain, Aronee (AUTHOR), Lee, Jin Hyung (AUTHOR)
Source: Science. 2/19/2026, Vol. 391 Issue 6787, p800-806. 7p.
Subjects: Empathy, Prosocial behavior, Rodents, Optogenetics, Theta rhythm, Cingulate cortex, Orexins, Psychological distress
Abstract: Empathy measured through observational fear in rodents has been associated with increased theta oscillations in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). However, upstream circuit mechanisms modulating these oscillations and the extent of the oscillations' role in empathy-related behaviors remain elusive. We found that in mice, ACC theta oscillations are involved in empathy-driven prosocial allogrooming. Moreover, orexinergic neurons are selectively activated in the ACC during observational fear and prosocial allogrooming, but only when the animals had prior fear experience. Real-time, gaze-dependent optogenetic inhibition of lateral hypothalamic orexinergic inputs to ACC suppressed theta power and reduced both behaviors. These findings show that hypothalamic orexinergic inputs drive ACC theta oscillations to modulate observational fear and prosocial behaviors, providing circuit-level insight into how affective empathy translates into prosocial action. Editor's summary: Social empathy has been observed in many species, including mice. However, the neural mechanisms underlying affective empathy and prosocial behavior remain to be elucidated. Kim et al. used observational fear learning to induce empathy in observer mice and to quantify prosocial behavior when they were reunited with fear-conditioned mice. Orexinergic projections from the lateral hypothalamus to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were selectively recruited during both affective empathy and prosocial behavior and controlled theta oscillations in the ACC. Manipulating the ACC-projecting orexinergic circuit modulated both affective empathy and prosocial behavior. These results provide mechanistic insight into how empathy translates into prosocial action. —Mattia Maroso [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Science is the property of American Association for the Advancement of Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Label: Title
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  Data: Empathy and prosocial behavior powered by orexin-driven theta oscillations.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kim%2C+Jae+Gon%22">Kim, Jae Gon</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Cron%2C+Greg+O%2E%22">Cron, Greg O.</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kim%2C+Minsoo%22">Kim, Minsoo</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hossain%2C+Aronee%22">Hossain, Aronee</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Lee%2C+Jin+Hyung%22">Lee, Jin Hyung</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Science%22">Science</searchLink>. 2/19/2026, Vol. 391 Issue 6787, p800-806. 7p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Empathy%22">Empathy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Prosocial+behavior%22">Prosocial behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Rodents%22">Rodents</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Optogenetics%22">Optogenetics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Theta+rhythm%22">Theta rhythm</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cingulate+cortex%22">Cingulate cortex</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Orexins%22">Orexins</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychological+distress%22">Psychological distress</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Empathy measured through observational fear in rodents has been associated with increased theta oscillations in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). However, upstream circuit mechanisms modulating these oscillations and the extent of the oscillations' role in empathy-related behaviors remain elusive. We found that in mice, ACC theta oscillations are involved in empathy-driven prosocial allogrooming. Moreover, orexinergic neurons are selectively activated in the ACC during observational fear and prosocial allogrooming, but only when the animals had prior fear experience. Real-time, gaze-dependent optogenetic inhibition of lateral hypothalamic orexinergic inputs to ACC suppressed theta power and reduced both behaviors. These findings show that hypothalamic orexinergic inputs drive ACC theta oscillations to modulate observational fear and prosocial behaviors, providing circuit-level insight into how affective empathy translates into prosocial action. Editor's summary: Social empathy has been observed in many species, including mice. However, the neural mechanisms underlying affective empathy and prosocial behavior remain to be elucidated. Kim et al. used observational fear learning to induce empathy in observer mice and to quantify prosocial behavior when they were reunited with fear-conditioned mice. Orexinergic projections from the lateral hypothalamus to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were selectively recruited during both affective empathy and prosocial behavior and controlled theta oscillations in the ACC. Manipulating the ACC-projecting orexinergic circuit modulated both affective empathy and prosocial behavior. These results provide mechanistic insight into how empathy translates into prosocial action. —Mattia Maroso [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Science is the property of American Association for the Advancement of Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1126/science.aea7140
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        Text: English
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        PageCount: 7
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      – SubjectFull: Empathy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Prosocial behavior
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      – SubjectFull: Rodents
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      – SubjectFull: Theta rhythm
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      – SubjectFull: Cingulate cortex
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      – SubjectFull: Orexins
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      – SubjectFull: Psychological distress
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      – TitleFull: Empathy and prosocial behavior powered by orexin-driven theta oscillations.
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            NameFull: Kim, Jae Gon
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              Text: 2/19/2026
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