HSE neurophysiologists have stimulated people's brains with magnets and made them more generous
The neurophysiologists at the Higher School of Economics (HSE) have found that magnetic stimulation of the brain makes a person more generous. The results were published in the journal Scientific Reports, briefly described in a press release on the website Godnauki.rf.
In the course of the study, experts used transcranial magnetic stimulation of certain areas of the prefrontal cortex in 46 volunteers. This non-invasive method consists in generating short magnetic pulses that penetrate the skull and suppress neural activity.
The subjects played the economic games Dictator and Generosity. In the first game, one of the participants distributes money between the players, while the others assess how fair this division is. In the second game, the participant distributing the money retains a fixed amount.
It turned out that when the activity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was suppressed, the participants in “Dictator” became more generous, while in “Generosity” the subjects did not change their behavior. This indicates that the dorsolateral cortex is involved in decision making only when egoistic and altruistic (prosocial) motives conflict. This explains why the results of previous research on selfish and prosocial decisions have been conflicting.