We are Kinder by Nature, Study Suggests
Are humans born selfish brutes? Or are we by nature kind and compassionate? In the latest research, scientists examined the empathetic impulses in the brain while temporarily disabling other regions and found that altruism in humans may be more hard-wired than previously thought.
‘Potentially ground-breaking’
According to senior author Marco Lacoboni, psychiatry professor at University of California, Los Angeles said the findings were potentially ground-breaking. It point to a possible way to make people behave in less selfish and more altruistic way.
The study consisted of two parts. In the first experiment, 20 people were shown a video of a hand being poked with a pin and then asked to imitate photographs of faces displaying a range of emotions—happy, sad, angry and excited. While the participants undergo the test, the researchers scanned their brains with functional magnetic resonance imaging, paying close attention to activity in several areas.
The researchers found that amygdala, somatosensory cortex and anterior insula—are associated with experiencing pain and emotion and with imitating others. Two other areas are in the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for regulating behaviour and controlling impulses.
Participants also played the dictator game, which economists and other social scientists often use to study decision-making. Participants are given a certain amount of money to either keep for themselves or share with a stranger. In the UCLA study, participants were given $10 per round for 24 rounds, and the recipients were actual Los Angeles residents whose names were changed for the game, but whose actual ages and income levels were used.
The findings revealed that those with the most activity in the prefrontal cortex proved to be the stingiest, giving away an average of only $1 to $3 per round. Meanwhile, the one-third of the participants who had the strongest responses in the areas of the brain associated with perceiving pain and emotion and imitating others were the most generous, giving approximately 75% of their bounty. Researchers referred to this tendency as "prosocial resonance" or mirroring impulse, and they believe the impulse to be a primary driving force behind altruism.
For the second part of their study, researchers sought to understand whether some portions of the prefrontal cortex might be blocking the altruistic mirroring impulse. In the 20 participants assigned to the control group, a portion of the brain that had to do with sight was weakened on the theory it would have no effect on generosity. But in the others, the researchers dampened either the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex or the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, which combine to block impulses of all varieties.
Christov-Moore said that if people really were inherently selfish, weakening those areas of the brain would free people to act more selfishly. But then, study participants with disrupted activity in the brain’s impulse control centre were 50 percent more generous than members of the control group.
The research team also found that who people chose to give their money to changed depending on which part of the prefrontal cortex was dampened. Participants whose dorsomedial prefrontal cortex was dampened, meanwhile, tended to be more generous overall. But those whose dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was dampened tended to be more generous to recipients with higher incomes—people who appeared to be less in need of a handout.
The findings suggest potential avenues for increasing empathy, which is especially critical in treating people who have experienced desensitizing situations like prison or war.
Source of this article:
Leonardo Christov-Moore et al. Self-other resonance, its control and prosocial inclinations: Brain-behavior relationships
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