Is there something that unites optimists?
That is the question a team of Japanese researchers from Kobe University decided to tackle.
As first reported by The Guardian in the article, “Optimists share similar brain patterns when thinking about the future, scans show,” looks at the research and its findings.
After studying a group of 87 participants through a questionnaire and an MRI brain scan, the researchers discovered similarities between the optimistic participants. The results revealed physical similarities in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC).
The similarities appear to be related to how optimists perceive future events. Their thought patterns indicated these individuals think about what may be using a similar set of neural pathways, causing them to believe in similar ways.
The research results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in a journal article titled, “Optimistic people are all alike: Shared neural representations supporting episodic future thinking among optimistic individuals.”
In the Significance, the authors write, “Recent research suggests that neural processing of cognitive function is similar among individuals with positive traits but more dissimilar among those with negative traits. Applying the cross-subject neural representational analytical approach, we found that optimistic individuals display similar neural processing when imagining the future, whereas less optimistic individuals show idiosyncratic differences. Additionally, we found that optimistic individuals imagined positive events as more distinct from negative events than less optimistic individuals.”
This is just another step for scientists to gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of the human mind and how it functions.
To me, it doesn’t matter how. I find it utterly amazing.
PHOTO CREDIT: Sagittal brain MRI. (by Genesis12~enwiki via Wikimedia)
