Cerebral support for making donation-related decision with altruistic and egoistic motives

Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology. 2023. Vol. 53. No. 2. P. 242–246.

Shepelenko A., Kosonogov V.

Prosocial behavior is a complex process of social interactions whose cerebral support has received insufficient study. Two major groups of factors motivating people to donate their resources for others' benefit have been identified – the altruistic and the egoistic. Regardless of motivation, activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex is seen during donation-related decision-taking. In addition, the temporal-parietal junction provides both positive reinforcement for donating and empathic concern, which reflects the importance of the process of mentalization in charitable behavior. Egoistic motivations for charity are associated with activation of brain areas linked with satisfaction and positive emotions (the nucleus accumbens and ventral striatum). On the other hand, a donor may empathize with the beneficiary, i.e., have altruistic motivations, which are associated with involvement of the anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex. This review addresses the neurobiological mechanisms associated with the process of donating on the basis of both altruistic and egoistic motives.

Keywords: charity, empathy, review, fMRI, brain, Theory of mind, prosocial behavior, donating