Brain Region That Controls Helpful Behavior Identified by Researchers

Highlights:

Different regions are activated in the brain during decision making
Clinicians can develop strategies for treating psychopathic behaviours if they understand what happens in the brain when these decisions are made

A part of the brain specifically involved in trying to assist others has been identified by researchers from the Universities of Birmingham and Oxford.

The study demonstrates that choosing to act in an effortful altruistic manner- making choices that benefit others- occurs in a different portion of the brain than choosing to behave in a physically demanding manner- choices that benefit oneself.

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‘The anterior cingulate cortex gyrus (ACCg) influences social behaviour and is activated in decision making when trying to assist others.’

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Understanding what occurs in the brain when these decisions are made might make it possible for clinicians to create methods for treating psychopathic behaviours. It might also help to better understand why people are willing to engage in common, labour-intensive acts of kindness such as volunteering, recycling rubbish to reduce global warming or stopping to assist strangers.

The detected region is in the front of the brain and is known as the anterior cingulate cortex gyrus (ACCg). This region influences social behaviour. However, it was not connected with trying to assist others. Researchers discovered that when people choose self-serving actions, the ACCg is not active.

“From holding open a door to volunteering for a charity, we often have to decide whether we can be bothered to put in the effort to help other people out but the brain mechanisms behind these acts have remained elusive. By identifying the specific brain region that is activated when people need to put in the effort, we have taken a step closer to understanding what drives some individuals, but not others, to perform what are often physically demanding decisions to help people- even when it does not directly benefit themselves,” said Dr Patricia Lockwood, first author on the paper.

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Brain Changes During Decision Making

38 people between the ages of 18 and 35 years participated in the study. Each participant was required to participate in a decision-making exercise and complete a questionnaire to rate their level of empathy.

While having a functional MRI scan, the participants made decisions. The MRI showed highlighted brain regions that are active when people choose to ‘work’ or ‘rest’ to assist themselves or another person.

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The participants had to squeeze a gadget that measured their grip strength if they selected the job option. They had to keep doing this long enough to cross a threshold displayed on the screen in real-time. For each choice, they were informed whether they would be working for themselves or another person. They had to exert enough pressure to cross the finish line and receive the reward. The participants got points that could be exchanged for cash, either for themselves or for the other person they played for.

The researchers found patterns in the brain that indicated how much effort people were willing to put in by using a novel statistical technique to analyse the data. They discovered that the ACCg was the only part of the brain to exhibit the effort pattern when people made these choices to assist others. However, it did not respond in any way when people chose to exert effort to reward themselves. People who reported having a high level of empathy also had the highest effort patterns in ACCg. The researchers discovered that those who showed more effort in the ACCg also contributed greater grip strength.

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The next step will be to look at what happens to people who exhibit effortful helping behaviour after experiencing lesions in that region of the brain due to stroke or brain injury. Researchers also plan to study how antisocial behaviour affects the ability to put forth effort in activities and their propensity to assist others.

Source-Medindia