Neurology: Cultivate Optimism With The Help Of Your Brain

Feeling anxious? Your orbitofrontal cortex may have something to do with it. It's the region of the brain that's located just behind the eyes, and previous research has shown that it plays a role in anxiety.

New findings published in the journal Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience reveal that healthy adults with larger OFCs tend to be more optimistic, with less anxiety.

In this recent study, researchers wanted to go about things in a different light, as most previous studies focus on those who have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders.

"We wanted to go in the opposite direction," University of Illinois researcher Sanda Dolcos said, in a news release. "If there can be shrinkage of the orbitofrontal cortex and that shrinkage is associated with anxiety disorders, what does it mean in healthy populations that have larger OFCs? Could that have a protective role?"

Furthermore, they also wanted to know whether optimism was part of the mechanisms that linked larger OFC brain volumes to lesser anxiety.

During the study, researchers collected MRIs of 61 healthy young adults, analyzing the structure of a number of regions in the brain, including the OFC. The researchers calculated the volume of gray matter in each brain region relative to the overall volume of the brain. The study subjects also completed tests that assessed their optimism and anxiety, depression symptoms, and positive (enthusiastic, interested) and negative (irritable, upset) affect.

A statistical analysis then revealed a thicker ortibofrontal cortex on the left side of the brain corresponded to higher optimism and less anxiety, researchers noted. Furthermore, the model suggested that optimism played a mediating role in reducing anxiety in those with larger OFCs.

Researchers went on to rule out the role of other positive traits, including reducing anxiety and other brain structures appeared to be involved in reducing anxiety by boosting optimism.

"Optimism has been investigated in social psychology for years. But somehow only recently did we start to look at functional and structural associations of this trait in the brain," Hu said. "We wanted to know: If we are consistently optimistic about life, would that leave a mark in the brain?"

With future studies, researchers hope to determine whether optimism can be increased and if anxiety can be reduced by training people in tasks when engaging the orbitofrontal cortex.

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