Editing Compassion (section)

==Neurobiology==
Olga Klimecki (''et al.''), found differential (non-overlapping) fMRI brain activation areas in respect to compassion and empathy: compassion was associated with the [[Orbitofrontal cortex|mOFC]], [[anterior cingulate cortex|pregenual ACC]], and ventral [[striatum]]. Empathy, in contrast, was associated with the [[Insular cortex|anterior insula]] and the [[cingulate cortex|anterior midcingulate cortex]] (aMCC).<ref name="Klimecki" />

In one study conducted by James Rilling and Gregory Berns, neuroscientists at [[Emory University]], subjects' brain activities were recorded while they helped someone in need. It was found that while the subjects were performing compassionate acts, the caudate nucleus and anterior cingulate regions of the brain were activated, the same areas of the brain associated with pleasure and reward. One brain region, the subgenual [[anterior cingulate]] cortex/[[basal forebrain]], contributes to learning altruistic behavior, especially in those with trait empathy.<ref name="PMID_27528669">{{multiref2
|1={{Cite journal |last1=Lockwood |first1=Patricia L |last2=Apps |first2=Matthew A J |last3=Valton |first3=Vincent |last4=Viding |first4=Essi |last5=Roiser |first5=Jonathan P |year=2016 |title=Neurocomputational mechanisms of prosocial learning and links to empathy. |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=113 |issue=35 |pages=9763–8 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1603198113 |pmc=5024617 |pmid=27528669 |bibcode=2016PNAS..113.9763L |quote=. fMRI revealed that activity in a posterior portion of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex/basal forebrain (sgACC) drives learning only when we are acting in a prosocial context |doi-access=free}}
|2={{lay source |template=cite news |date=August 15, 2016 |title=Finding the Brain's Generosity Center |url=http://neurosciencenews.com/generosity-empathy-neuroscience-4850/ |work=Neuroscience News}}
}}</ref> The same study showed a connection between giving to charity and the promotion of social bonding and personal reputation.<ref name="neurons">{{Cite news |last=Svoboda |first=Elizabeth |date=5 September 2013 |title=Scientists Are Finding That We Are Hard-Wired for Giving |publisher=University of Notre Dame |url=https://generosityresearch.nd.edu/news/hard-wired-for-giving/ |access-date=7 August 2017}}</ref> True compassion, if it exists at all, is thus inherently motivated (at least to some degree) by self-interest.{{dubious|reason=the descriptions of the neuroscience studies given above say nothing about motivation|date=July 2023}}

In a 2009 small [[fMRI]] experiment, researchers at the [[Brain and Creativity Institute]] studied strong feelings of compassion for {{clarify|text=social|reason=what's "social pain"?|date=July 2023}} and physical pain in others. Both feelings involved an expected change in activity in the anterior [[insular cortex|insula]], [[anterior cingulate]], [[hypothalamus]], and [[midbrain]], but they also found a previously undescribed pattern of [[Cerebral cortex|cortical]] activity on the posterior [[medial (anatomy)|medial]] surface of each brain hemisphere, a region involved in the [[Default network|default mode of brain function]], and implicated in {{clarify|text=self-related processes|reason=processes that relate to themselves? that relate to the "self"? that relate to oneself?|date=July 2023}}. Compassion for social pain in others was associated with strong activation in the interoceptive, inferior/posterior portion of this region, while compassion for physical pain in others involved heightened activity in the exteroceptive, superior/anterior portion. Compassion for social pain activated this superior/anterior section, to a lesser extent. Activity in the anterior insula related to compassion for social pain peaked later and endured longer than that associated with compassion for physical pain.<ref name="MHIY2009">{{Cite journal |last1=Immordino-Yang |first1=M. H. |last2=McColl |first2=A. |last3=Damasio |first3=H. |last4=Damasio |first4=A. |date=May 2009 |title=Neural correlates of admiration and compassion |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=106 |issue=19 |pages=8021–6 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0810363106 |pmc=2670880 |pmid=19414310 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Compassionate emotions toward others affect the [[prefrontal cortex]], inferior frontal cortex, and the [[midbrain]].<ref name="MHIY2009" /> Feelings and acts of compassion stimulate areas known to regulate [[homeostasis]], such as the [[anterior insula]], the [[anterior cingulate]], the [[mesencephalon]], the [[insular cortex]] and the [[hypothalamus]], supporting the hypothesis that social emotions use some of the same basic devices involved in other, primary emotions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Ji-Woong |last2=Kim |first2=Sung-Eun |last3=Kim |first3=Jae-Jin |last4=Jeong |first4=Bumseok |last5=Park |first5=Chang-Hyun |last6=Son |first6=Ae Ree |last7=Song |first7=Ji Eun |last8=Ki |first8=Seon Wan |date=August 2009 |title=Compassionate attitude towards others' suffering activates the mesolimbic neural system. |journal= Neuropsychologia|volume=47 |issue=10 |pages=2073–2081 |doi=10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.03.017 |pmid=19428038 |s2cid=22862525 }}</ref>