Neural reward-related reactions to monetary gains for self and charity

Jochem P Spaans,Sabine Peters,Eveline A Crone

doi:10.3758/s13415-018-00672-1

Jochem P Spaans, Sabine Peters + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-018-00672-1

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Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine the neural signatures of gaining money for self and charity. Young adults (N = 31, 21–24 years of age) underwent fMRI scanning while they performed a task in which they could earn money for themselves and for a self-chosen charity by selecting one of two options with unknown outcomes. The results showed elevated activity in the ventral striatum when gaining for the self only and for self and charity, but not when gaining for charity only. However, increased ventral striatal activity when gaining for charity only was correlated with participants’ self-reported empathic concern and enjoyment when winning for charity. Empathic concern was also related to donating a larger proportion of earnings to charity after the MRI session. In short, these results reveal robust ventral striatal activity when gaining for oneself, but empathy-dependent individual differences in ventral striatal activity when gaining for charity.

Highlights

The aim of the present study was to examine the neural signatures of gaining money for self and charity
Ventral striatal activity during vicarious gaining is likely dependent on individual differences in how important the other is to you (Braams, Peters, Peper, Güroǧlu, & Crone, 2014; Telzer et al, 2013), in willingness to give to others (Kuss et al, 2013), in relationship closeness (Fareri, Niznikiewicz, Lee, & Delgado, 2012), and in traits such as empathic concern (Andreoni, Rao, & Trachtman, 2017), no prior study has tested this experimentally
We focused on vicarious gaining for a charity, which is a relatively stable distal Bother.^ Participants chose a charity from a list of ten big charities, and subsequently performed a task in the MRI scanner in which they could earn extra money for themselves and for the chosen charity by making a random, twooption decision on each trial

Summary

Introduction

The aim of the present study was to examine the neural signatures of gaining money for self and charity. Several studies have shown that vicarious gaining was associated with activation in the ventral striatum (Mobbs et al, 2009; Telzer, Fuligni, Lieberman, & Galvan, 2013), such as when gaining rewards for friends (Braams, Güroǧlu, et al, 2014a; Varnum, Shi, Chen, Qiu, & Han, 2014), close others (Inagaki et al, 2016), or charities (Harbaugh et al, 2007; Moll et al, 2006). These findings suggest that the ventral striatum might serve a more general role in learning (e.g., irrespective of target)

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