Helping Others Benefits Your Brain

Byandy

Giving support to others may have more brain benefits than receiving support.

A new study suggests that giving social support to others may benefit the giver more than the receiver on a neurobiological level. The researchers used fMRI brain imaging to pinpoint three specific brain benefits of giving social support to others.

The February 2016 study, “The Neurobiology of Giving Versus Receiving Support: The Role of Stress-Related and Social Reward-Related Neural Activity,” was published in Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine.

The author says: “It’s always encouraging when the latest neuroscience confirms the possibility of creating an upward spiral of well-being for all parties involved through prosocial acts of loving-kindness, generosity, and feelings of gratitude.”

More in the full article at psychologytoday.com
archived as pdf: Helping Others Benefits Your Brain
and the original study The_Neurobiology_of_Giving_Versus_Receiving:

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