Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Recording Gamma Band Oscillations in Pedunculopontine Nucleus Neurons
Published on: September 14, 2016
Augmentation of frontoparietal gamma-band phase coupling enhances human altruistic behavior
Jie Hu1,2, Marius Moisa2, Christian C Ruff2,3,4
1Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
Abstract:
Cooperation, productivity, and cohesion in human societies depend on altruism, the tendency to share resources with others even though this is costly. While altruism is a widely shared social norm, people vary strongly in their inclination to behave altruistically, in particular across situations with different types of inequality in resource distribution. What neurobiological factors underlie this variability? And can these be targeted by interventions to enhance altruistic behavior? Here, we build on electroencephalography (EEG) evidence that altruistic choices during disadvantageous inequality correlate with oscillatory gamma-band coherence between frontal regions (representing other's interest) and parietal regions (representing neural evidence accumulation). We apply a transcranial alternating current stimulation protocol designed to exogenously enhance this fronto-parietal coherence and find that this leads to increased altruism, specifically during disadvantageous inequality as hypothesized based on the EEG findings. Computational modeling reveals that this transcranial entrainment does not just add noise to the decision process but specifically increases the weight individuals assign to other-regarding concerns during choices. Our findings show that altruism can be enhanced by neurostimulation designed to enhance oscillatory synchronization between frontal and parietal areas. This establishes a neural basis for altruism and identifies a neural target for interventions aimed at improving prosocial behavior.
Related Concept Videos
Band Theory
The energy difference between these bands is known as the band gap.
Conductor, Semiconductor,...
G-protein Coupled Receptors
Energy Bands in Solids
Band Formation:
When atoms are brought close together, as in a solid, these discrete energy levels begin to split due to the overlap of electron orbitals from adjacent atoms. This split occurs because of the Pauli exclusion principle, which states...
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Phase Diagrams
Spin–Spin Coupling: Two-Bond Coupling (Geminal Coupling)
The central atom need not be NMR-active because its electrons are affected by the electron polarization of the spin-active atoms. However, spin information is transmitted less effectively than in one-bond coupling, and 2J values are usually weaker than 1J values. The energy of...

