Tokyo: Some people are always happy despite having very limited means to enjoy the good things in life. Have you ever wondered what is the secret behind their happiness?
According to a researh, the reason of their happiness is having more gray matter mass in a brain region.
People who feel happiness more deeply, and are more able to find meaning in life have a larger precuneus — a region in the medial parietal lobe that becomes active when experiencing consciousness, the findings showed.
“Several studies show 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,” said study lead author Wataru Sato from Kyoto University in Japan.
The brains of the participants was scanned with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). After that all the participants went through a survey that asked how happy they are generally, how intensely they feel emotions, and how satisfied they are with their lives.
The study revealed that happiness is a combination of happy emotions and satisfaction of life coming together in the precuneus.
Those who scored higher on the happiness surveys had more grey matter mass in the precuneus.
“I am very happy that we now know more about what it means to be happy,” Sato further stated.
(With IANS inputs)