Researchers at
Kyoto University have found an answer from a neurological perspective. Overall
happiness, according to their study, is a combination of happy emotions and
satisfaction of life coming together in the precuneus, a region in the medial
parietal lobe that becomes active when experiencing consciousness. People feel
emotions in different ways; for instance, some people feel happiness more
intensely than others when they receive compliments. Psychologists have found
that emotional factors like these and satisfaction of life together constitutes
the subjective experience of being happy. The neural mechanism behind how
happiness emerges, however, remained unclear. Understanding that mechanism, will
be a huge asset for quantifying levels of happiness objectively.
Researchers
scanned the brains of research participants with MRI. The participants then
took a survey that asked how happy they are generally, how intensely they feel
emotions, and how satisfied they are with their lives. Their analysis revealed
that those who scored higher on the happiness surveys had more grey matter mass
in the precuneus. In other words, people who feel happiness more intensely,
feel sadness less intensely, and are more able to find meaning in life have a
larger precuneus. Over history, many eminent scholars like Aristotle have
contemplated what happiness is. Several studies have shown that meditation
increases grey matter mass in the precuneus. This new insight on where
happiness happens in the brain will be useful for developing happiness programs
based on scientific research.
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