Helping Others Is Good For You, Especially When Your Target Is Specific
Aug 31, 2018 04:28 AM By Sadhana Bharanidharan
Helping others activates the brain regions involved in parental care, according to research from the University of Pittsburgh. Observed brain activity also found that targeting our support to specific people (whom we know to be in need) could be uniquely beneficial for our health.
The study titled "Neural Correlates of Giving Social Support: Differences between Giving Targeted versus Untargeted Support" was recently published in Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine.
It is known that pro-social behavior in the form of helping others can have a positive effect on the giver, not just the receiver. "Giving support contributes to the link between social ties and health, however, the neural mechanisms are not known," the authors wrote.
https://www.medicaldaily.com/helping-others-good-especially-when-your-target-specific-427223
