Why Do Good? Brain Study Offers Clues

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/22/AR2007012200374.html

This was an interesting article that I found on a study done on why people act the way they do.
People were given tasks to do and their brains were monitored to see which areas of the brain were active in people who are known to be altruistic verses people who tend to be more selfish. Huettel's group defined altruistic acts as acts "that intentionally benefit another organism, incur no direct personal benefit, and sometimes bear a personal cost." They went into the experiment with the belief that altruism corresponded to the brain's reward systems, such as altruistic people would simply find it more rewarding. Instead, they discovered that a different part of the brain was involoved, the posterior superior temporal cortex (pSTC). As altruism levels rose, this part of the brain became more active. The pSTC is near the back of the brain and is not focused on reward, but on perceiving others' intentions and actions. So, some people are more in touch with others' needs and then inherently are more altruistic. It is not certain whether people with damage to this area would be more selfish.