Your Brain on Optimism

New research reveals the biological roots of positive thinking. How a rosy outlook can affect your health.

*Excerpts From Newsweek, click on title for link :)*
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The disparity between positive and pessimistic minds is especially prominent in areas of the brain that have been linked to depression. "The same areas that malfunction in depression are very active when people think about positive events," says Tali Sharot, a post-doctorate fellow at University College London, who conducted the research at New York University.

In the study, Sharot had subjects think about emotional events, both positive and negative, like winning an award or ending a romantic relationship. They did this for past events and those that could plausibly occur in the future, while their brains were being scanned in a fMRI. Afterwards, subjects filled out a questionnaire that measured their level of optimism. What Sharot found was that when participants thought about positive future events, two regions of the brain became much more active than when they thought about negative events.

While we can't say for certain why some people respond more positively to life's events, it's increasingly clear that your mental outlook can have a big effect on your physical health. Optimism motivates individuals to take control of their lives, while depression has been found to have the opposite effect. It is often linked to a sense of hopelessness. "The problem with depression is that people are so pessimistic that they don't engage in actions that could make their lives better," says Elizabeth Phelps, one of the study authors and psychology professor at NYU.

The exact nature of the relationship between optimism and good health is still unclear. Martin Seligman, who studies optimism and positive thinking at the University of Pennsylvania says that it might be that, optimists, as opposed to pessimists, are more likely to take care of their health because they believe in the potential positive outcomes. Or, it could be that optimistic people are more likeable and build better social networks, which have been associated with longevity. Another possibility is that optimistic people may have had less trauma or difficulty in their lives (a high number of negative events in a lifetime correlates with bad health). "All of these are plausible," says Seligman.

So does this mean that self-help books that aim to boost your optimism, like "The Secret" or "The Power of Positive Thinking" will make you healthier? Not necessarily. But researchers like Seligman do believe that promoting positive thinking is a promising avenue of medical research. And whether or not you agree with his hopeful outlook may tell you something about your own brain.

© 2007 Newsweek, Inc.
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I can only say for myself that as I study self help books/literature like Napoleon Hill and Bob Proctor, I have been more positive and it has impacted my life totally in all areas--relationships, financial etc--it's biggest impact is on how I deal with stress--as Cheryl Ables and Michelle Barnes say, "Play the spinmaster" which means to turn what can be negative into a positive. This change in outlook is fantastic and can really help turn around a negative situation--keeping it from growing into a HUGE emotional mess.....
Jm