Psychologists have long debated whether altruism is a learned or innate behavior. “Our altruism may be more hardwired than previously thought,” said Christov-Moore, the co-author of a new study in the journal Human Brain Mapping. The study consisted of three parts. First, each participant watched a video of a hand being poked with a pin. Next, the participants were asked to imitate photographs of different faces exhibiting emotions, like happiness, sadness, anger, and excitement. And lastly, the participants were given $10 to keep for themselves or share with a stranger. The researchers found that individuals with the greatest amount of activity in the prefrontal cortex gave the least amount of money. Overall, one-third of the participants gave away an average of 75% of their money to strangers. Researchers believe participants’ brains allowed them to mirror the strangers in the game, which they now suspect is the driving force behind altruism. In a subsequent study, the researchers employed the same procedure as the first study but first performed a non-invasive procedure that depressed prefrontal cortex activity. The results showed participants were 50 percent more generous when activity in their prefrontal cortex was weakened than when activity was normal.

Read original article


Tags: