The Resting Brain Sets Support-Giving in Motion: Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex Activity During Momentary Rest Primes Supportive Responding

Abstract

Humans give support, care, and assistance to others on a daily basis. However, the brain mechanisms that set such supportive behavior in motion are unknown. Based on previous findings demonstrating that activity in a portion of the brain’s default network—the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC)—during brief rest primes social thinking and behavior, momentary fluctuations in this brain region at rest may prime supportive responding. To test this hypothesis, 26 participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they alternated between deciding whether to give support to a close other in financial need, receive support for themselves, and make arbitrary decisions unrelated to support. Decisions were interleaved with brief periods of rest. Results showed that, within participants, spontaneous activity in the DMPFC during momentary periods of rest primed supportive-responding: greater activity in this region at the onset of a brief period of rest predicted, on a trial-by-trial basis, faster decisions to give support to the close other. Thus, activating the DMPFC as soon as our minds are free from external demands to attention may help individuals ‘default’ to support-giving. Implications for understanding the prosocial functions of the resting brain are discussed.