A new study reveals that happiness could be the result of a build up of small instances of joy that pan out to a general feeling of overall satisfaction. This new research, courtesy of a team of Japanese researchers, will definitley encourage further study into what could now be called the ‘science’ of happiness.
Being Happy Means Vastly Different Things to Different People
While some keep focussed on product possessions, others seek self-help books, meditation and working out to stay positive and happy. This new study has some major ramifications for future study right into exactly what makes people feel happy, and provides people with instant recipes to joy.
An analysis of the outcomes showed that a higher mass of grey matter in the precuneus was linked with greater scores on the happiness surveys. The definition and formula for happiness is still quite blurry, but it might be just a fraction clearer thanks to this study. The team nevertheless stresses that a lot of further study is needed to really grasp the scope of this knowledge.
The Study Finds that Being Happy Comes from the Small Things
People who really feel joy and happiness with intensity have a bigger precuneus – a region in the medial parietal lobe that becomes energetic when experiencing consciousness, the conclusions showed. Psychotherapists have found that emotional elements like these as well as satisfactions of life with each other make up the subjective experience of being “happy”. Research study leader Wataru Sato believes recognizing that mechanism could possibly assist researchers quantify the degrees of joy objectively.
A Larger Precuneus Means a Happier Life
People were surveyed based on the intensity with which they felt emotion, and this data was then compared with MRI images of grey matter of the very subjects. People with larger precuneus were shown to have a higher emotional intensity and are more prone to ‘happiness’. The team went on to explain that the reason the precunus is larger is because it has more circulation of neurons.
