Rats display genuine empathy — they prioritize freeing a trapped cagemate over chocolate, and they only help friends, not strangers. A new systematic evaluation confirms this is not just instinct, but a graded form of empathy. However, rats do not perceive the intentions or beliefs of others the way humans do.
The Research
In a landmark 2011 study published in Science, a free rat given the choice between chocolate and a trapped cagemate consistently freed the trapped rat first, then shared the chocolate. To determine whether this was true empathy or mere instinct, researchers from Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), led by Professor Albert Newen, developed a five-dimensional framework to audit animal empathy. The dimensions are: registering emotion, registering situation, registering mental states, behavioral flexibility, and other-oriented action.
Applying this framework to data from the 2011 study and later replications, the team found that rats score moderately high on flexibility and registering situation/emotion, moderate on other-orientation (they only help familiar rats), and near-zero on registering mental states (they do not infer intentions or beliefs). The conclusion, published in Neuroscience News (July 2, 2026), is that rats possess a genuine but limited “profile” of empathy — a graded, not binary, trait.
Why It Matters
This research challenges the long-held view that empathy is uniquely human. It shows that the building blocks of social bonding — recognizing distress and acting to help — exist across species. For you, this means that your own capacity for empathy likely sits on a continuum with other animals. Understanding that empathy is not all-or-nothing can help you appreciate the complexity of your own social instincts and perhaps be less judgmental of moments when you feel less empathetic.
What You Can Do
To strengthen your empathy, practice perspective-taking: imagine what someone else is feeling and why. Also, build strong social bonds — rats only help rats they know, and humans are similar. Spend quality time with friends and family to maintain that connection.
Source: Neuroscience News
Curious about your own brain? Take our free adaptive IQ test or try 306 brain training levels.
