This Drug Can Alter Your Brain Chemistry to Make You More Compassionate

Pills can do some amazing things. They can reduce a fever, battle depression and relieve muscle pain. But what if a pill could make a person more compassionate? Scientists have found that giving a drug that changes the neurochemical balance in the brain causes a greater willingness to engage in prosocial behaviors, such as ensuring that resources are divided more equally.

"Our study shows how studying basic scientific questions about human nature can, in fact, provide important insights into diagnosis and treatment of social dysfunctions," said Ming Hsu, one of the researchers, in a news release.

In this latest study, participants on two separate visits received a pill containing either a placebo or tolcapone, a drug that prolongs the effects of dopamine, a brain chemical associated with reward and motivation in the prefrontal cortex. Then, the volunteers played a simple economic game in which they divided money between themselves and an anonymous recipient. After receiving tolcapone, the participants divided the money with strangers in a fairer and more egalitarian way than those receiving the placebo.

"We typically think of fair-mindedness as a stable characteristic, part of one's personality," said Hsu. "Our study doesn't reject this notion, but it does show how that trait can be systematically affected by targeting specific neurochemical pathways in the human brain."

The researchers also connected previous studies in order to see which region in the brain was most affected. In fact, this latest study brings the scientists closer to pinpointing how prosocial behaviors such as fairness are initiated in the brain.

"We have taken an important step toward learning how our aversion to inequality is influenced by our brain chemistry," said Ignacio Saez, one of the researchers. "Studies in the past have shed light on the neural circuits that govern how we behave in social situations. What we show here is one brain 'switch' we can affect."

The findings are published in the journal Current Biology.

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