Eugene, Ore. — U.S. researchers have found that giving money to charity stimulates the areas of the brain associated with the pleasure of eating a favorite food.A newly published study in the journal Science said an experiment involving brain scans and reinforces the idea that altruism is a human trait.The experiment at the University of Oregon involved observing the neural responses in 19 volunteers who made various transactions on a computer. The results showed the nerve cells in the caudate nucleus fired when money was “donated” to a food charity. Those same cells fire when someone eats chocolate or some other favorite treat.In an unusual twist, the same neural activity showed up when taxes were paid, although not to the same extent as the charitable giving. Civil societies function because people pay taxes and make charitable contributions to provide public goods. One possible motive for charitable contributions, called “pure altruism,” is satisfied by increases in the public good no matter the source or intent. Another possible motive, “warm glow,” is only fulfilled by an individual’s own voluntary donations. Consistent with pure altruism, we find that even mandatory, tax-like transfers to a charity elicit neural activity in areas linked to reward processing. Moreover, neural responses to the charity’s financial gains predict voluntary giving. However, consistent with warm glow, neural activity further increases when people make transfers voluntarily. Both pure altruism and warm-glow motives appear to determine the hedonic consequences of financial transfers to the public good.Copyright 2007 by United Press International

Tags: altruism, charitable giving

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