Dataset associated with: Alteration of empathy-related behaviors in two strains of mice expressing mutations of the α5 cholinergic nicotinic receptor subunit

We used transgenic mice expressing either the SNP rs16969968 (termed α5SNP or α5KI) or a knockout of the Chrna5 gene (α5KO) to investigate the role of α5-containing nAchRs (α5*nAchRs) in emotion recognition and prosocial, rescuing-like behavioral tasks.

We found that α5KO mice are impaired in the recognition of a negative affective state in a familiar peer, and displayed severely altered pro-social, altruistic behaviors, eventually assaulting peers in distress. In contrast, α5KI mice exhibited normal or improved emotion recognition and increased rescuing-like behavior. Importantly, effects of α5 mutations on emotion recognition were modulated by sex.