Neuroscience of Kindness

Dr.Suresh Kumar Murugesan PhD

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 About the Presenter
● Dr.Suresh Kumar Murugesan is a passionate Professor, Researcher
and Positive Mental Health Practitioner from Madurai, Tamil Nadu,
India
● At present he is Heading the PG Department of Psychology, The
American College, Madurai and Adjunct Professor of School of
Behavioural Sciences and Education at Texila American University
● He is very keen in learning new research studies in behavioural
Sciences and open to learn.
● His ultimate aim is to make impression in the field of Knowledge
● His area of specializations are Psychometry and Positive
Psychology

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 Disclaimer
● This presentation is prepared
for learning purpose only and
anyone can use the content.
● All the images used in this
presentation are taken from
google image search.
● Due acknowledgement was
given to all the material
collected from the various
sources.
● Any name or reference is not
included kindly bring it to the
notice of the presenter for
inclusion.
● Email -
sureshkumar800@yahoo.com
Thank you
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Key Terms
 Neuroscience
● Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system.
● Neuroscientists focus on the brain and its impact on behavior and
cognitive functions, or how people think.

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 Kindness
Kindness is an acts of generosity, consideration, or concern for others, without
expecting praise or reward

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 Journal Personality and Individual Differences (2017) suggests
Kindness kindness has three main parts:

1. Love, acceptance, and courtesy in daily life

2. Empathy
3. Proactively behaving honorably toward others.

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Kindness Vs Compassion
 Kindness Vs Compassion
Parameter of Kindness Compassion
Comparison

Define Act of trying to help others who are in The ability to feel for someone or
need. experience the same to feel it.

Feeling Does not involve much feeling Involves deep feeling in others misery

Action Might feel sorry but not act on it Feel the same emotions as the other
person does

Involvement Might not feel but still do Involvement of feeling and emotions and
then acts on it.

Example Sending flowers to someone who is ill. A caring nurse taking care of an ill person.

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 Brain and Kindness

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 ● Ballatt and Campling in their 2011 book, Intelligent
Posterior Kindness: Reforming the Culture of Healthcare, summarise
Superior some of the evidence for the impact that kindness can
have on our own brains.
Temporal Cortex ● For example, in altruistic individuals, increased activity in
the posterior superior temporal cortex has been
reported.

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 ● Scientists have noted that the size of the amygdala
Amygdala correlates with kindness practices of an individual in the
society.
● A bigger, better developed amygdala means a more
developed sense of kindness and a greater disposition to
acts of generosity and selflessness (Marsh - Georgetown
University)

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 Subgenual anterior
cingulate cortex
“Some brain regions (in the ‘subgenual anterior cingulate
cortex’) were more active during altruistic generosity
indicating that there is something unique about being
altruistic with no hope of gaining something in return,” -
Daniel Campbell-Meiklejohn

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 Endorphins and Oxytocin
Individual acts of kindness release both endorphins and oxytocin, and create
new neural connections. - Ballatt and Campling (2011)

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 Kindness Strategies

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 1. Be kind to yourself:
● A study conducted during 2019 by University of Exeter highlights that
kind thoughts about ourselves are important for our mental health.
● It also helps us relax, and inspires us to be kind to others.

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 2.Count kind acts
Counting the number of kind acts we perform can spur on more kindness and
gratitude, according to a 2006 study led by a team of Japanese researchers.

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 3. Be kind to strangers
Lee Rowland and Oliver Scott Curry (2018) found that kindness shown to
weak ties such as strangers has equally positive effects on happiness as
kindness to ourselves, and stronger ties such as loved ones.

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 4. Encourage kids
● Encourage kids to be kind in the classroom
● Intentional kindness can help our kids gain perspective and connect, -
Binfet and John-Tyler (2015)

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 5. Be spontaneously kind
Surprise others and yourself with informal, random acts of kindness — these
may bring you more happiness than formal acts of kindness - Dr. Waguih
William IsHak (2019)

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 6. Remember kindness
when angry with your
partner
Psychological researcher John Gottman tells us “kindness
informs how we choose to express the anger. You can
throw spears at your partner. Or you can explain why
you’re hurt and angry, and that’s the kinder path.”
(Masters of Love, The Atlantic, June 2014)

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 7. Use kindness prompts
Practicing kindness is like building a muscle, it gets stronger with training - Jill
Ladwig (2013) University of Wisconsin-Madison study

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 References
1. Mathers N. (2016). Compassion and the science of
kindness: Harvard Davis Lecture 2015. The British journal
of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of
General Practitioners, 66(648), e525–e527.
https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp16X686041
2. Cynthia Marinakos (Sep 1, 2021). The Neuroscience of
Kindness. https://medium.com/publishous/the-
neuroscience-of-kindness-here-are-7-powerful-practices-
to-try-b7e06c9efb71
3. The CultureFeed Team (October 10, 2018). Kindness and
brain. https://culturefeed.com/study-shows-kindness-
activates-brain-differently-when-nothing-expected-in-
return/

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