For human beings to practice generosity is usually a nice thing, in fact it seems that the main reason we are generous to others is because it makes us feel good, however, there are other interesting benefits, one of them is how generosity affects the brain.
Recent research has studied the impact of generosity on different aspects of our well-being, a study published in the journal Nature Communications showed that generosity makes us happier and confirmed it by highlighting the regions of the brain involved.
- Is there a difference between helping someone close or someone we don’t know?Can different forms of generosity improve our health?.
A new study by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, first described different forms of generosity and studied the effects of these different forms of generosity on the brain. The findings were published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine.
Researchers distinguish between two forms of generosity: support? And “undirected” support. Providing specific support involves helping someone directly, such as lending money to a friend or family member. Providing undirected support means helping a social or general cause, such as donating money to a charity.
According to this study, providing “targeted” social support to other people in need activates the regions of the brain involved in parent care. On the other hand, providing “unintended” assistance does not have the same neurobiological effects.
This can help researchers understand the positive health effects of social ties. Researchers say the results of the study highlight the unique benefits of providing specific support and elucidating the neural pathways by which providing support can improve health.
Researchers conducted several experiments to evaluate brain responses by providing different types of social support.
In the first study, 45 volunteers performed a “Support” task, where they had the opportunity to earn rewards for a loved one who needed money (specific support or targeted support), for a charity (undirected support), or for themselves. As the researchers expected, participants felt more socially connected and felt their support was more effective when providing specific (targeted) social support.
Participants were then subjected to an emotional identification task that included a functional MRI to evaluate the activation of specific areas of the brain by providing social support. Support, regardless of the recipient, was associated with increased activation of ventral striatum and septal area, two regions previously related to the animal care behaviors of the parents.
However, only increased septum activation was associated with lower activity in a brain structure called a tonsil, related to responses to fear and stress, when people provided specific support.
In the second study, 382 participants provided information on their behavior to provide support (prosocial behavior) and underwent a different task of emotional identification with functional MRI; again, those who reported providing more specific support also showed reduced amygdala activity.
In both studies, providing undirected support (such as donations to charities) was not related to the activity of the amygdala.
The results suggest that providing targeted support can provide a unique health benefit, reducing anxiety and stress. According to the study authors, human beings thrive on and benefit from social ties when they act in the service of the well-being of others.
In an earlier study, the same researchers found that social support had positive effects on areas of the brain involved in stress and reward responses. This study suggests that providing support, not just receiving it, can make an important contribution to physical and mental health. Benefits of social support.
The new study adds additional evidence that providing targeted support can only be beneficial. Targeted and undirected support is linked to increased activity in the septal zone, supporting the theory of well-being experienced by providing support: we help others, directly or indirectly, simply because it makes us feel good.
Researchers say the link between increasing septum activation and reducing amygdala activity suggests a neural pathway. Through this neural pathway, “providing support ends up influencing health, which is specific to specific forms of targeted support, such as giving to specific people we know are in need. “
They also point out that their study cannot identify the cause and effect of support for septal zone activation or amygdala; They also argue that targeted social support does not always lead to better health, for example, long-term care for a sick parent can be detrimental to health.
The study is consistent with previous evidence that supports the idea that social support for others can be a factor often overlooked in the well-known link between social ties and health. “Giving specific support to an identifiable person in need is associated exclusively with reduced amygdala activity, which helps understand how and when providing support can improve health,” the researchers conclude.