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The optimistic brain

Nature Neuroscience volume 10, pages 1345–1347 (2007)Cite this article

Faced with the metaphorical glass, most people see it as being half full. A new study shows that activity in two limbic areas, the rostral anterior cingulate cortex and amygdala, reflects an optimistic attitude.

Take a moment to consider the following questions. In uncertain times, do you usually expect the best? Do you expect more good things to happen to you than bad? Do you think that if something can go wrong for you, it will? Do you hardly ever expect things to go your way? People who respond “yes” to the first two questions and “no” to the latter two are characterized as optimists1. Most of us tend to be optimistic, which is a good thing because optimism is associated with many benefits to both physical and mental health; optimists tend to be well-adjusted psychologically and are equipped to handle stress well2. But we may be optimistic to a fault, in the sense that we maintain unrealistically positive expectations of our futures. For example, compared to the population in general, people think that they are more likely to own their own homes and live a long life and also think that they are less likely to have a drinking problem or a heart attack3. Although researchers have explored cognitive and social factors that contribute to optimistic bias and related mistakes that people make when predicting the future4, next to nothing is known about the underlying brain processes. Sharot et al.5 now report a neuroimaging study that sheds light on how the brain generates an optimistic bias.

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Figure 1: Sharot et al.5 found two regions involved in optimism: the rACC, a strip of cortex surrounding the corpus callosum, and the amygdala, an almond-shaped structure located in the inner part of the temporal lobe.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Harvard University, 33 Kirkland St., Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    Daniel L Schacter & Donna Rose Addis

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  1. Daniel L Schacter
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  2. Donna Rose Addis
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Schacter, D., Addis, D. The optimistic brain. Nat Neurosci 10, 1345–1347 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1107-1345

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