Peggy Mason
Peggy Mason
| Peggy Mason | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| 🏫 Education | Harvard University (BA, PhD) |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Pain modulation research, empathy and pro-social behavior in rats |
| 🌐 Website | https://neurobiology.uchicago.edu/page/mason |
Peggy Mason is a neuroscientist and associate professor at the University of Chicago, where she has conducted research for over 25 years. Her work initially focused on the cellular mechanisms of pain modulation before shifting to studying the biology of empathy and pro-social behavior in rats. She is known for her groundbreaking 2011 study in Science demonstrating empathetic behavior in rats,[1] and for discovering the relationship between feeding behavior and pain suppression.[2] Mason is also the author of the textbook Medical Neurobiology (2011) and creator of a popular Coursera course on neurobiology that has attracted more than 100,000 students.[3]
Career
Mason has been a faculty member at the University of Chicago for over 25 years. She currently serves as a Professor in the Department of Neurobiology. In 2018, she received a Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentoring, recognizing her commitment to education.[4]
She has taught undergraduate and medical students at the University of Chicago throughout her career. In addition, she has published a comprehensive textbook entitled Medical Neurobiology (2011).
Research
Pain modulation
Mason's early research focused extensively on the cellular mechanisms of pain modulation, with particular emphasis on the role of raphe magnus neurons in the medulla. Her work investigated how pain signals are processed and modulated at the cellular level, examining the relationship between pain and various physiological states.[5]
Her laboratory has published numerous studies on the neural circuitry involved in pain modulation, particularly focusing on:
- The role of raphe magnus neurons in responding to noxious stimuli[6]
- How ventromedial medullary neurons coordinate sympathetic and somatomotor functions[7]
- Pain modulation during different behavioral states, including sleep[8]
- The effects of opioids on pain modulatory circuits[9]
Feeding behavior and pain suppression
A significant aspect of Mason's research has been the discovery of the relationship between feeding behavior and pain suppression. Her laboratory demonstrated that eating, particularly of palatable foods, suppresses pain-related behaviors.[10] This work revealed that sensory suppression during feeding is a robust phenomenon, with eating being a protected behavior even in the face of persistent pain.[11]
Empathy and pro-social behavior
Since 2008, Mason has directed her research toward the biology of empathy and pro-social behavior. In 2011, she and her colleagues published a landmark paper in Science (journal) titled "Empathy and pro-social behavior in rats," which demonstrated that rats will free trapped companions even without expectation of reward, suggesting empathetic behavior in rodents.[12]
Building on this groundbreaking work, Mason's laboratory has made several key contributions to understanding the biological basis of empathy and helping behavior:
- Demonstrating that pro-social behavior in rats is influenced by social experience and familiarity[13]
- Documenting the bystander effect in rats, showing that rats are less likely to help when in the presence of other non-helping rats[14]
- Finding that anxiolytic drugs impair helping behavior in rats[15]
- Proposing a valence-free definition of sociality as any violation of inter-individual independence[16]
This body of work has pioneered methods to study empathy in rodent models and has contributed significantly to the understanding of the biological foundations of social behavior.
Recent research
More recently, Mason's research has expanded to include studies on somatosensation and congenital touch deficits. Her work has investigated:
- The cognitive and socioemotional development of individuals with congenital absence of touch[17]
- The role of somatosensation in visuo-motor control[18]
- Perception of body shape and size without touch or proprioception[19]
She has also contributed to research on autism, suggesting the inclusion of cerebellum-controlled motor behaviors in tests for mouse models of autism.[20]
Newspaper articles covering Mason[21][22]
References
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- ↑ Ben-Ami Bartal, I.; Decety, J.; Mason, P. (2011). "Empathy and pro-social behavior in rats". Science. 334 (6061): 1427–1430. Bibcode:2011Sci...334.1427B. doi:10.1126/science.1210789. PMC 3760221. PMID 22158823.
- ↑ Foo, H.; Mason, P. (2005). "Sensory suppression during feeding". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 102 (46): 16865–16869. Bibcode:2005PNAS..10216865F. doi:10.1073/pnas.0506226102. PMC 1283815. PMID 16275919.
- ↑ "Peggy Mason". University of Chicago Department of Neurobiology. Retrieved February 26, 2025.
- ↑ "Peggy Mason". University of Chicago Department of Neurobiology. Retrieved February 26, 2025.
- ↑ Mason, P. (2005). "Ventromedial medulla: pain modulation and beyond". J Comp Neurol. 493 (1): 2–8. doi:10.1002/cne.20751. PMID 16255004.
- ↑ Brink, TS.; Mason, P. (2003). "Raphe magnus neurons respond to noxious colorectal distension". J Neurophysiol. 89 (5): 2506–2515. doi:10.1152/jn.00825.2002. PMID 12612047.
- ↑ Nason, MW Jr.; Mason, P. (2004). "Modulation of sympathetic and somatomotor function by the ventromedial medulla". J Neurophysiol. 92 (1): 510–522. doi:10.1152/jn.00089.2004. PMID 14973310.
- ↑ Foo, H.; Mason, P. (2003). "Brainstem modulation of pain during sleep and waking". Sleep Med Rev. 7 (2): 145–154. doi:10.1053/smrv.2002.0224. PMID 12628215.
- ↑ Hellman, KM.; Mason, P. (2012). "Opioids disrupt pro-nociceptive modulation mediated by raphe magnus". J Neurosci. 32 (40): 13668–13678. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1551-12.2012. PMC 3752126. PMID 23035079.
- ↑ Foo, H.; Mason, P. (2009). "Analgesia accompanying food consumption requires ingestion of hedonic foods". J Neurosci. 29 (41): 13053–13062. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3514-09.2009. PMC 2785220. PMID 19828818.
- ↑ Foo, H.; Crabtree, K.; Thrasher, A.; Mason, P. (2009). "Eating is a protected behavior even in the face of persistent pain in male rats". Physiol Behav. 97 (3–4): 426–429. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2009.03.015. PMC 2696032. PMID 19321150.
- ↑ Ben-Ami Bartal, I.; Decety, J.; Mason, P. (2011). "Empathy and pro-social behavior in rats". Science. 334 (6061): 1427–1430. Bibcode:2011Sci...334.1427B. doi:10.1126/science.1210789. PMC 3760221. PMID 22158823.
- ↑ Ben-Ami Bartal, I.; Rodgers, DA.; Bernardez Sarria, MS.; Decety, J.; Mason, P. (2014). "Pro-social behavior in rats is modulated by social experience". eLife. 3: e01385. doi:10.7554/eLife.01385. PMC 3884117. PMID 24424411.
- ↑ Havlik, JL.; Vieira Sugano, YY.; Jacobi, MC.; Kukreja, RR.; Jacobi, JHC.; Mason, P. (2020). "The bystander effect in rats". Sci Adv. 6 (28): eabb4205. Bibcode:2020SciA....6.4205H. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abb4205. PMC 7455499 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 32923593 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Ben-Ami Bartal, I.; Shan, H.; Molasky, NM.; Murray, TM.; Williams, JZ.; Decety, J.; Mason, P. (2016). "Anxiolytic Treatment Impairs Helping Behavior in Rats". Front Psychol. 7: 850. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00850. PMC 4896909. PMID 27375528.
- ↑ Mason, P.; Shan, H. (2017). "A valence-free definition of sociality as any violation of inter-individual independence". Proc Biol Sci. 284 (1866): 20170948. doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.0948. PMC 5698633. PMID 29118128.
- ↑ Mason, P.; Reder, A.; Lacy, M.; Pinto, J. (2024). "Congenital absence of touch does not preclude normal cognitive and socioemotional development". Res Sq [Preprint]: rs.3.rs–4791322. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-4791322/v1. PMC 11326350 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 39149458 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Miall, RC.; Afanasyeva, D.; Cole, JD.; Mason, P. (2021). "The role of somatosensation in automatic visuo-motor control: a comparison of congenital and acquired sensory loss". Exp Brain Res. 239 (7): 2043–2061. doi:10.1007/s00221-021-06110-y. PMC 8282580 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 33909112 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Miall, RC.; Afanasyeva, D.; Cole, JD.; Mason, P. (2021). "Perception of body shape and size without touch or proprioception: evidence from individuals with congenital and acquired neuropathy". Exp Brain Res. 239 (4): 1203–1221. doi:10.1007/s00221-021-06037-4. PMC 8068692 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 33580292 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Simmons, DH.; Titley, HK.; Hansel, C.; Mason, P. (2021). "Argument for the Inclusion of Cerebellum-Controlled Motor Behaviors". Neuroscience. 462: 303–319. doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.05.010. PMID 32417339 Check
|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Trice, Dawn Turner (2012-11-05). "U. of C. scientist delves into the hearts of animals". Chicago Tribune. pp. 1–4. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
- ↑ "You friendly rat!". Chicago Tribune. 2011-12-09. pp. 33–7. Retrieved 2025-06-04.
