Altruistic behavior: mapping responses in the brain

Figures & data

Table 1 Self-report measures to measure altruism

Name	Description	Example item
Altruistic Personality Scale^Citation20	Measures frequency that a person engages in prosocial behaviors on a 5-point scale ranging from never (0) to very often (4). Twenty items.	I have donated goods or clothes to charity.
Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale^Citation22	Conscientiousness measures what a good employee ought to do. Five items. Sportsmanship measures one’s ability to handle the negative complexities of work life without complaint. Five items. Civic virtue measures commitment to the organization. Four items. Courtesy measures one’s likelihood of helping others in effort to avoid work- related problems. Five items. Altruism measures interpersonal helping and facilitation of others. Five items.	I am always on time to work.
Helping Behavior Scale^Citation16	Measures global altruism and helping behavior in work place.	I help orient new employees in this group.
Big five models of personality^Citation23	The items that comprise the altruism facet measure the extent to which people find helping others to be rewarding.	I go out of my way to help others if I can.

Table 2 Behavioral measures

Name	Description	How the game measures altruism
Ultimatum game (UG)	Person A is given a pre-determined amount of money and instructed to divide the money between him/herself and Person B. Person B must then either accept or reject the offer. If Person B accepts the offer, both partners receive the money as allocated by Person A. If Person B rejects the offer, neither individual receives any money.	The UG is an example of altruistic punishment being used to penalize Person A for engaging in unfair behavior.
Dictator game	Person A (“the dictator”) is instructed to divide a sum of money into two parts for himself and Person B (“the recipient”). The recipient has no opportunity to influence the outcome of the game and simply receives the sum of money the dictator allocates.	Per homo economicus, individuals who choose to share the endowment with the recipient in the game are engaging in altruistic behavior.
Trust game (TG)	Person A allocates a sum of money to Person B. Once allocated, researchers multiply the allocated portion by a specified amount. Then, Person B must decide how much of their allocation should be returned to Person A.	Altruism in the TG is measured by how Person B splits the newly allocated funds, since Person A has no input on the funds once Person B could keep the entire allocation to themselves. When they split the endowment they are acting altruistically.
Public goods game	Participants are given money in the form of tokens which they may either keep or donate to the theoretical community coffers. The tokens that participants donate are then divided equally among all persons at the end of a round.	The most beneficial outcome for a single person is to donate nothing, as they will still receive a share of donated tokens at the end of the round so when they cooperate and donate to the pot they are acting altruistically.

Figure 1 Schematic representation of brain networks associated with reward (green), mentalizing and theory of mind (pink), and emotional salience (blue) thought to be involved in altruistic behavior.

Abbreviations: AMY, amygdala; ACC, anterior cingulate cortex; DLPFC, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; mPFC, medial prefrontal cortex; NaCC, nucleus accumbens; TPJ, temporoparietal junction; VTA, ventral tegmental area.

Figure 2 Schematic representation of neural activation associated with altruistic behavior during fMRI.

Notes: Color represents brain networks associated with reward (green), mentalizing and theory of mind (pink), and emotional salience (blue). Note, blue regions (DLPFC/insula) also appeared task dependent.

Abbreviations: DLPFC, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging; mPFC, medial prefrontal cortex; NaCC, nucleus accumbens; SgACC, subgenual anterior cingulate cortex; STS, superior temporal sulcus; VTA, ventral tegmental area.

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