Altruism is associated with an increased neural response to agency

Dharol Tankersley; C. Jill Stowe; Scott A. Huettel

doi:10.1038/nn1833

Altruism is associated with an increased neural response to agency

Dharol Tankersley, C. Jill Stowe, Scott A. Huettel

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

154 Scopus citations

Abstract

Although the neural mechanisms underlying altruism remain unknown, empathy and its component abilities, such as the perception of the actions and intentions of others, have been proposed as key contributors. Tasks requiring the perception of agency activate the posterior superior temporal cortex (pSTC), particularly in the right hemisphere. Here, we demonstrate that differential activation of the human pSTC during action perception versus action performance predicts self-reported altruism.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	150-151
Number of pages	2
Journal	Nature Neuroscience
Volume	10
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1833
State	Published - Feb 2007

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank E. Douglas for assistance in data collection, S. Green for assistance in manuscript preparation and G. McCarthy, J. Morris, K. Pelphrey, D. Purves and B. Weber for comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH-70685), by the US National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke (NINDS-41328) and by institutional funds of Duke University.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Neuroscience

Access to Document

10.1038/nn1833

Cite this

@article{a0a5441a199d40a4a0ee3a0e83f38329,

title = "Altruism is associated with an increased neural response to agency",

abstract = "Although the neural mechanisms underlying altruism remain unknown, empathy and its component abilities, such as the perception of the actions and intentions of others, have been proposed as key contributors. Tasks requiring the perception of agency activate the posterior superior temporal cortex (pSTC), particularly in the right hemisphere. Here, we demonstrate that differential activation of the human pSTC during action perception versus action performance predicts self-reported altruism.",

author = "Dharol Tankersley and Stowe, {C. Jill} and Huettel, {Scott A.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank E. Douglas for assistance in data collection, S. Green for assistance in manuscript preparation and G. McCarthy, J. Morris, K. Pelphrey, D. Purves and B. Weber for comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH-70685), by the US National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke (NINDS-41328) and by institutional funds of Duke University.",

year = "2007",

month = feb,

doi = "10.1038/nn1833",

language = "English",

volume = "10",

pages = "150--151",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Altruism is associated with an increased neural response to agency

AU - Tankersley, Dharol

AU - Stowe, C. Jill

AU - Huettel, Scott A.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank E. Douglas for assistance in data collection, S. Green for assistance in manuscript preparation and G. McCarthy, J. Morris, K. Pelphrey, D. Purves and B. Weber for comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH-70685), by the US National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke (NINDS-41328) and by institutional funds of Duke University.

PY - 2007/2

Y1 - 2007/2

N2 - Although the neural mechanisms underlying altruism remain unknown, empathy and its component abilities, such as the perception of the actions and intentions of others, have been proposed as key contributors. Tasks requiring the perception of agency activate the posterior superior temporal cortex (pSTC), particularly in the right hemisphere. Here, we demonstrate that differential activation of the human pSTC during action perception versus action performance predicts self-reported altruism.

AB - Although the neural mechanisms underlying altruism remain unknown, empathy and its component abilities, such as the perception of the actions and intentions of others, have been proposed as key contributors. Tasks requiring the perception of agency activate the posterior superior temporal cortex (pSTC), particularly in the right hemisphere. Here, we demonstrate that differential activation of the human pSTC during action perception versus action performance predicts self-reported altruism.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33846625270&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33846625270&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/nn1833

DO - 10.1038/nn1833

M3 - Article

C2 - 17237779

AN - SCOPUS:33846625270

SN - 1097-6256

VL - 10

SP - 150

EP - 151

JO - Nature Neuroscience

JF - Nature Neuroscience

IS - 2

ER -

Altruism is associated with an increased neural response to agency

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this