Altruism studied at Duke University

DURHAM, N.C., Jan. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say the detection of the presence of an active participant in a situation involves a brain region that's more active in altruistic people.

Scott Huettel and colleagues at Duke University scanned the brains of people while they either played a simple computer game to earn money for charity or just watched the computer play the game by itself.

Figuring out social relationships generally involves activation of the posterior superior temporal sulcus, or pSTS, on the right side of the brain. And the researchers reported seeing activity in that region, specifically when participants were just watching the game.

The authors also asked participants to answer questions designed to assess their tendency toward altruistic behavior and found the magnitude of pSTS activation strongly correlated with individual levels of altruism measured in response to the questions.

The study's results, say the scientists, suggest a specific brain response to a simulated altruistic situation might be directly related to a person's real-life unselfish behavior.

The study is detailed in the current issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience.