There is an area in the human brain that is responsible for an optimistic perception of reality.
Scientists have found that the front of the middle brain, the Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC), is responsible for positive thoughts and dreams.
The orbitofrontal cortex is located in the prefrontal cortex just behind the human eyes. It has long been known to play a role in anxiety disorders, emotional and behavioral regulation by integrating intellectual and emotional information. The size of the orbital cortex seems to be associated with a tendency to anxiety or optimism.
The area behind the eyes is activated when people start thinking about a good future. In more optimistic people, activation takes place in a more pronounced form.
The same part of the brain appears to be functioning poorly in depressed people, according to the authors of the study, Dr Elizabeth Phelps of the University of New York and Tali Sharot of University College London.
Their research was conducted in 2007. Scientists scanned the brain in 15 subjects using functional magnetic resonance techniques, while participants were thinking about their future. When the thoughts were pleasant, the specified brain area and almond-shaped body responsible for emotional responses, including fears and concerns, were activated. But the greatest correlation with optimism was noted in the cingulate gyrus of the brain.
The same study showed that people tended to associate happy events with the near future, and bad ones to be as far away as possible, although there was no reasonable reason to do so.
Phelps says: "Psychologists have known for a long time that people are predisposed to optimistic thoughts, but new research has revealed some details. When the researchers asked the subjects to think about 80 future events that might be pleasant, neutral or bad, people were more likely to think about the future in a good way.
An independent expert, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, Dr. Dan Schacter, believes that the study opens up new evidence about the relationship between optimism and brain activity. Phelps adds: "A mood of optimism is necessary because people are unlikely to actively seek it when they think of a pessimistic future.
Traumatic events and chronic stress can reduce parts of the orbital cortex. This was proven in a 2011 study that compared the size of the OFC based on the results of brain imaging in young people before and after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Scientists led by Atsushi Sekiguchi found that the volume of grey OAG was atrophied in many subjects in the months after the disaster. People who lost most of their MRSA in the left hemisphere were most likely to have a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
In a follow-up study in 2014, Sekuguchi found microstructural changes in the white matter compound of the brain in patients with PTSD.
In 2015, a study by Florin and Sandy Dolcos (Florin Dolcos, Sanda Dolcos) at the University of Illinois, showed that optimism can ultimately protect a person from anxiety by stimulating changes in his orbital cortex. Dolkos and their colleagues found that healthy adults with large orbital cortex were more optimistic and less anxious. Hence, it is possible to increase optimism and reduce anxiety by teaching people about tasks affecting the orbital cortex or finding ways to increase optimism directly.
"We wanted to go in the opposite direction. If there is a contraction of the orbital frontal cortex associated with anxiety disorders, doesn't this mean that an increase in the size of the OCC may have a protective role? You can say: "Well, there is a connection between the orbital frontal cortex and anxiety. What do I do to reduce anxiety?" asks Sanda Dolkos. - And our model says it works in part through optimism. That's why optimism is one of the factors you can and should be guided by. Optimism can play a role in the relationship between the size of the GFCS and the level of human anxiety. ».
Scientists wanted to prove their hypothesis that optimism is associated with an increase in the volume of grey matter in the regions of the OFK. A larger size of MCP can be part of a feedback loop that buffers anxiety, increasing optimism.
For this study, the team performed MRI on 61 healthy young people and analyzed the structure of areas in their brains, including MRF. The volume of grey matter in each brain region was then calculated relative to the total volume of the brain. Finally, the study participants were tested to assess their optimism and anxiety, symptoms of depression, and positive (enthusiastic, interested) and negative (irritable, upset) affect.
Analysis of the results showed that the thicker orbital frontal cortex on the left side of the brain corresponded to higher optimism and less anxiety. The results also suggest that optimism played a mediating role in reducing anxiety in people with larger OCC. Analysis showed that no other brain structures appear to be involved in reducing anxiety, increasing optimism.
Researchers believe that if you can teach someone to respond more positively to stressful events and remain optimistic for a moment, these explanatory models will eventually become part of their brain structure.