Joy of Giving

They used a technique called functional MRI. It reveals which brain structures are most active relative to the rest of the brain when people perform certain mental tasks. They asked 19 healthy volunteers to play a computer game while having their brains scanned. In addition to dispensing cash rewards, the game also asked for donations to charities. "When they donated, either they could donate and it wouldn't cost them personally or they could donate and it might cost them some money," explains Grafman.

But as they reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences donating to charities lit up the brain's reward circuits even more than receiving cash.

"The same regions of the brain that are associated with the reward and the good feeling you have when you get something yourself, like money, were the same areas that were activated when you give. That surprised us," says Grafman. "And not only were the same areas involved, but in fact they were more activated when you give than when you receive."

And giving also excited areas of the brain that are not activated by receiving. One produces the so-called "cuddle hormone" oxytocin. "It's very well known that oxytocin is released when people feel an attachment," Grafman says.

"It definitely seems like you're going to get more pleasure, if these brain activations can be any guide, when you're giving than when you're simply receiving."

"One of the unique things about people," says Grafman, is "they're willing to sacrifice something-- money, time, many things-- in order to support other people or organizations they have no direct relationship with. These are not brothers, sisters, cousins, part of their local tribe."

Another traditional aspect tied to giving is the concept of not seeking recognition or approval for doing it (which can also be traced to a New Testament verse).

Interestingly, the team's experiments ruled out those motivations. "One of the nice aspects of this study was people were not donating simply because they thought somebody else would see them donate or know that they donated a certain amount," explains Grafman. So their brain activations were not "really reflecting their expectation that somebody was going to pat them on the back. Not at all-- they were donating anonymously and this brain activation occurred simply with the act of donation," he says.

Grafman points out that while kids get excited about receiving gifts, their parents prefer the Santa Claus role. "I think if you have young children you can see that they're much more excited when they're receiving something and they don't like giving something up to somebody else. So clearly, donating is a much more learned behavior than simply taking or receiving from others ... in some sense, you have to experience donation, you have to be persuaded to donate in the beginning. But once you do donate you'll come back and give more because you'll realize what a pleasurable sensation it was to donate."

This material is made possible by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academies.

Grafman's research was published in the October 17, 2006 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. His research is funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).