Cells in the Human Body Detect Different Forms of Happiness

Can the cells in our body detect how happy we are? Apparently they can. Scientists have discovered that human bodies recognize at the molecular level that not all happiness is created equal and that the sense of well-being derived from a "noble" purpose" may provide cellular health benefits.

In order to examine how different types of happiness might affect people differently, the researchers looked at the biological influence of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being through the human genome. Hedonic well-being represents an individual's pleasurable experiences, while the deeper eudaimonic form results from striving toward meaning and a noble purpose. It's the difference in between enjoying a good meal and feeling connected to a larger community through a service project.

In past work, researchers found a systematic shift in gene expression associated with chronic stress, one that was characterized by increased expression of genes involved in inflammation that are associated with a wide variety of issues. In order to describe this shift, the researchers coined the term "conserved transcriptional response to adversity," or CTRA. In other words, the functional genomic fingerprint of chronic stress sets people up for illness.

In this case, the scientists examined the pattern of gene expression within people's immune cells. In the end, they found that eudaimonic well-being was associated with a significant decrease in the stress-related CTRA gene expression. In contrast, hedonic well-being was associated with a significant increase in the CTRA profile.

"We can make ourselves happy through simple pleasures, but those 'empty calories' don't help us broaden our awareness or build our capacity in ways that benefit us physically," said Barbara Fredrickson, one of the researchers, in a news release. "At the cellular level, our bodies appear to respond better to a different kind of well-being, one based on a sense of connectedness and purpose."

The findings reveal that happiness isn't created equally. Our reaction to different types of pleasure reveals that some types of satisfaction are better than others. In addition, the new study could help further research that links a sense of connectedness with longevity.

The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.