Quality of early-life maternal care predicts empathy-like behavior in adult male rats: Linking empathy to BDNF gene expression in associated brain regions

•Male rats that experienced high maternal care (HMC) showed higher level of empathy-like behavior compared to low maternal care (LMC) group.•Male rats that experienced HMC had significantly higher levels of BDNF gene expression in the amygdala, hippocampus, insula, prefrontal cortex, and striatum compared to LMC.•The expression level of BDNF gene in the anterior cingulate cortex was not different between HMC and LMC.•The higher levels of BDNF gene expression in these regions may partly explain the mechanisms by which maternal care influences empathy-like behavior. Empathy is the ability to experience a shared affective state as others. It enhances group living and manifests itself as helping behavior towards a distressed person. It also can flourish by nurturing. Recent findings suggest that rodents exhibit empathy-like behavior towards their conspecifics. However, the role of early-life experiences (e.g., maternal care) is not clear on the development of empathy-like behavior. Moreover, brain-derived neutrophilic factor (BDNF) is a pivotal protein in modulating the brain's function and behaviors. Evidence suggests that the expression of the BDNF gene can be affected by the quality of maternal care. In this study, we questioned whether variation in maternal care modulates empathy-like behavior of male rats in adulthood. Additionally, gene expression of BDNF was measured in the amygdala, hippocampus, insula, anterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex, and striatum in these adult male rats. Based on the pattern of maternal care, the offspring were divided into high maternal care (HMC) and low maternal care (LMC) groups. We confirmed that the early-life experience of HMC significantly promoted the empathy-like behavior of rats in adulthood compared to LMC. In terms of gene expression, the HMC group consistently had higher BDNF gene expression in all studied regions, except anterior cingulate cortex which groups were not different. Taken together, it suggests that maternal care in infancy predicts empathy-like behavior in adulthood and differences in BDNF gene expression in different brain regions may reflect the underlying mechanism.