Most experiences in our lives that we find transcendent -- whether illicit vices or socially sanctioned ritual and social practices as diverse as exercise and meditation activate an anatomically and biochemically defined pleasure circuit in the brain.

One set of studies was conducted by William Harbaugh, a professor of economics, at the University of Oregon, and his colleagues. The goal of their study was to figure out how the brain's pleasure circuit responded to differing approaches to giving and paying taxes.

One theory holds that some individuals give to charity out of altruism. They feel satisfaction from providing a public good, like assistance to the needy, and they care only about how much benefit is offered and not the process by which it occurs. This model implies that these individuals should get some pleasure even when such a transfer of wealth is mandatory, as in taxation.

The brain scanning results showed over the entire population that, just like receiving money, both taxation and charitable giving activated nearly overlapping regions of the pleasure circuit. However, on average, charitable giving produced a stronger activation of this pleasure center than did taxation. These results support both "pure altruism" and "warm glow" models as motivators of charitable giving.

Read the full article by David J. Linden Ph.D. on Psychology Today