Giving...its all in your head

And not just anywhere in your head but specifically in the posterior superior temporal cortex (pSTC in neurologist's terms). In laypeople terms - its all in the back of the brain.

This according to a study done by researchers at Duke and reported in the Washington Post. The study used students, computer games, and MRIs - and discovered that the parts of the brain that lit up when the students acted altruistically was not what the scientists expected. In the words of the lead researcher:

"Perhaps altruism did not grow out of a warm-glow feeling of doing good for others, but out of the simple recognition that that thing over there is a person that has intentions and goals. And therefore, I might want to treat them like I might want them to treat myself," explained study author Scott Huettel, an associate professor of psychology at Duke University Medical Center, in Durham, N.C."

In other words..."This is your brain. This is your brain on giving."

Tags: philanthropy, games