The establishment and maintenance of strong affiliative relationships is fundamental for group cohesion and crucial for overall individual well-being. Empathy is considered a critical process for promoting attachment and the long-term stability of social bonds. However, it is unclear how different modalities of social communication uniquely contribute to the development of empathy. Physical contact between individuals, such as gentle touching, is a powerful form of social communication. Despite mounting evidence that touch may be crucial for promoting social bonds, the role of touch in the development of empathy is currently not well understood. Animal models have become a powerful tool for the experimental manipulation and examination of empathy related behaviors such as emotional contagion. Here, we utilize the tube co-occupancy test (TCOT) to promote voluntary physical contact between mice and examine whether social, physical contact promotes emotional contagion of pain between mice. We found that repeated exposure to TCOT promoted the development of emotional contagion between mice. However, when physical contact was prevented in the TCOT assay the development of emotional contagion was also prevented. These results demonstrate that voluntary physical contact is a critical component in the formation of social bonding and emotional contagion in mice.

建立和维持牢固的从属关系对于团队凝聚力至关重要，对个人整体福祉至关重要。同情被认为是促进依恋和社会纽带长期稳定的关键过程。然而，尚不清楚不同的社交方式如何独特地促进同理心的发展。人与人之间的身体接触（例如轻轻触摸）是一种强大的社交交流形式。尽管越来越多的证据表明，触摸对于促进社会纽带可能至关重要，但是，在同理心发展中，触摸的作用目前尚不清楚。动物模型已成为实验操纵和检查与移情相关的行为（如情绪传染）的强大工具。这里，我们利用试管共同占用测试（TCOT）促进小鼠之间的自愿身体接触，并检查社交，身体接触是否会促进小鼠之间疼痛的情感传染。我们发现，反复接触TCOT会促进小鼠之间情绪传染的发展。但是，当在TCOT分析中防止身体接触时，也可以防止情绪传染的发展。这些结果表明，自愿的身体接触是小鼠社交联系和情感传染形成中的关键组成部分。当在TCOT分析中防止身体接触时，也可以防止情绪传染的发展。这些结果表明，自愿的身体接触是小鼠社交联系和情感传染形成中的关键组成部分。当在TCOT分析中防止身体接触时，也可以防止情绪传染的发展。这些结果表明，自愿的身体接触是小鼠社交联系和情感传染形成中的关键组成部分。