The human being is a social being that has evolved and progressed through teamwork and relationships with other subjects just like him. It seems to exist in our way of being an altruistic element that, bigger or smaller, encourages us to help and collaborate with others , seeking the good of others without expecting more reward than having made the world a little better place. The world as it is today needs people to help each other, and now a new study reveals that these types of behaviors can be beneficial for the brain and health .
Research carried out by a team from the University of Pittsburgh , and published in the ‘ Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine ‘, affirms that social help “directed” to people in need activates the areas of the brain that are usually involved in parental care , which helps to understand the positive effects of social ties and to know the neural pathways of these actions by which helping others improves health. The study points out that, in comparison, aid that is not directed to a specific person or group of people (“not directed”) such as giving money to charity, does not produce the same neurobiological effects on the brain .
Two experiments were conducted that evaluated the brain’s response to different types of social help or support. In the first, 45 volunteers had to choose whether to help a person they knew with money problems ( “directed” help ), an association that helped those who needed it ( “not directed” help ) or keep that help to themselves . Participants felt a greater connection and that their help was most effective when used in directed situations. After this, the subjects underwent assessment tasks that included functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to find out which specific areas of the brain were activated when they provided social help. Regardless of who received help, activation of the ventral striatum and the septal area , two regions associated with parental care in animals, was observed. However, only when it was helped in a targeted way was there a greater activation of the ventral striatum, which was associated with less activation of the amygdala , a region linked to fear or stress responses.
In the second experiment, 382 subjects provided information about their helpful behavior ( prosocial behavior ) and performed an emotional rating exercise in different situations while taking an fMRI. Again, those who reported doing more prosocial behavior activities with “directed” help had less amygdala activity. Both studies proved that the “undirected” help was not related to the activity of the amygdala.
A previous study, also conducted by Dr. Inagaki , found that providing social help has positive effects on areas of the brain related to stress and reward stimuli . This new research delves into this and adds new evidence on the effect that altruistic actions have on the activity of the ventral striatum that supports the theory of ” warm glow ” (warm glow) by which we help other people, directly or indirectly, because feel good . However, the conclusions obtained in the study do not allow us to find a cause-effect relationship between providing help and the activation of the ventral striatum or the amygdala; but it is one more proof of the important relationship that exists between social ties and relationships and health .
Referencia: Tristen K. Inagaki & Lauren P. Ross. ‘Neural Correlates of Giving Social Support: Differences between Giving Targeted versus Untargeted Support’. Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine (2018). DOI: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000623.
