Scientists have identified an area in the human brain associated with altruism

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British neuroscientists have identified the region that controls human prosocial behavior, within the brain's ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

The University of Birmingham Press Service reported on Monday, May 27, that the damage to this area makes humans antisocial and incapable of altruism.

Jo Cutler, a researcher at the University of Birmingham, explained, “The information we have obtained will not only help in revealing the mechanisms of development of positive social behavior forms, but also in developing new methods to alleviate various mental and behavioral disorders, including psychopathy, and this will become possible.” "Thanks to us, we now have the opportunity to study the neurophysiological mechanisms of the development of these behavioral aberrations."

Scientists made this discovery by monitoring the behavior and brain function of 40 patients suffering from various forms of organic brain damage, in addition to 40 healthy volunteers. During these experiments, scientists monitored how volunteers behaved while carrying out the task assigned to them, and participants in the experiment could earn money for themselves and a stranger.

In this experiment, volunteers had to squeeze a hand dynamometer and apply a certain amount of force in order to receive a reward. The amount of effort, as well as the amount of reward for each volunteer and his cooperator, changed significantly with each round of testing, allowing neuroscientists to comprehensively study the altruistic behavior of volunteers and the functioning of the brain areas supposedly linked to it.

Comparison and subsequent analysis of the results of these experiments allowed scientists to identify a specific region within the ventral prefrontal cortex of the brain that controls prosocial behavior in humans. This part of the cortex has actually been linked to altruism, but now scientists have been able to identify a specific location in the brain area, or what is called “area 14,” and show practically that damage to this area of ​​the brain greatly reduces a person’s tendency to help others. free of charge.

Interestingly, damage to the neighboring area “Area 13”, on the contrary, led to an increase in altruistic tendencies in the behavior of volunteers. Scientists concluded that this likely indicates that suppressing or stimulating the work of these areas of the prefrontal cortex will make it possible in the future to combat various mental disorders, including psychopathy or excessive tendency toward altruism.