You might be a goody two-shoes and there’s nothing you can do about it, or you might be a grumpy grouch hating your way through life, and the good news is there is something you can do about it!

A new study asserts that people are born altruistic, perhaps quashing the age old argument of nature vs. nurture.  

Altruistic is defined as the belief or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.

Hello. This is huge!  How many people do you know that genuinely get a boost from doing good for others without any interest in getting something out of it themselves?  I know a few, but not enough.  Maybe there’s a way to awaken that bodhisattva gene in you, or maybe it's not a gene at all but a special chemical and physiological condition of the brain.  I’ve studied the brain and behavior for many years and my work with oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin triggers suggests that neurotransmitters regulate our mood and behaviour in a feedback loop of constant sensory information that is framed in context to the state one is in, i.e., parasympathetic vs. sympathetic.  Some scientists at UCLA have confirmed it.

According to a UCLA neuroscience study, non-invasively dampening certain parts of the pre-frontal cortex disconnected people from their learned selfish and self centered behavior and made them more empathic and prosocial.  

So, if you’re generous to a fault, just know it’s not your fault.  

Read the study here.

Author: Vic Love, www.Fb.com/Vityalove