A Pill For Compassion? Scientists Say It's Possible

A drug is usually never the cure or answer to anything--whatever illness you may be dealing with. However, recent findings conducted by researchers at UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco show that a new drug could help alter brain chemistry in such a way that it could make some more sensitive to social inequality--a problem that some individuals may deal with when it comes to certain mental health issues.

For the study, researchers examined 35 participants to figure out if this could be done. They used the FDA-approved drug tolcapone, which helps to prolong the effects of dopamine in the brain. Some were given the drug while others were given a placebo.

"Our study shows how studying basic scientific questions about human nature can, in fact, provide important insights into diagnosis and treatment of social dysfunctions," said Ming Hsu, a co-principal investigator and assistant professor at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, in a news release. 

The researchers then conducted an economic game in which they asked the participants to divide the money between themselves and an anonymous person.

Research has shown that when people receive higher dopamine levels, the chemical reward is associated with reward and motivation in the prefrontal cortex. Oftentimes, drugs that are connected to it are used to treat people with Parkinson's disease and some other similarly related health problems that affect muscle control and movement.

Findings revealed that those who received tolcapone divided the money in a fairer manner.

With future studies, researchers hope that in time, they can better understand the interaction between altered dopamine-brain mechanisms and mental illnesses that are related to addiction and how to possibly treat them better.

"We have taken an important step toward learning how our aversion to inequity is influenced by our brain chemistry," concluded the study's first author, Ignacio Sáez, a postdoctoral researcher at the Haas School of Business. "Studies in the past decade have shed light on the neural circuits that govern how we behave in social situations. What we show here is one brain 'switch' we can affect."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Current Biology.