Life can sometimes decide to suddenly change direction. For the worse, but also for the better. It is good not to lose sight of it in these turbulent times. A first job, a wedding or even the birth of a child are all moments that mark a life. Numerous pulsers testify on this subject and Futura therefore wondered how these emotional moments resonate in our brains.
Life, it is a certainty, is not a long calm river. Life is more like this river that sometimes gets carried away, in the middle of a storm. A river that can fall and then leave calmly. A river that can take a sharp turn. Life is full of these special moments. Which are remembered mainly by the emotions they arouse according to the community of pulsers who shares his ideas on EDF co-ideation platform Pulse & You. And for you, how would you describe a significant moment in life? Help us understand them better and try to win a Samsung Galaxy S21.
These important moments that punctuate our lives would be as much to look for in marriages or births, graduations and professional successes as in these simpler moments, “where you have fun, where you feel good”. An outing in the forest or a meal with friends. Moments of happiness that resonate in our brain.
For several years, scientists have been studying the question using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). And regions that light up in moments of happiness, there are more than one. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the cingulate areas, the inferior temporal areas or even certain regions of the cerebellum. It is also interesting to note that certain networks activated by positive emotions are also activated by negative emotions.
Stay in control of your happiness
So much for our strictly emotional brain. But researchers have also identified a truly surprising region of our brain. They call it the precuneus. And it’s like a fold in the back of our brain. On the internal face of the parietal lobe of the cerebral cortex. This somewhat special area is able to process both rational thoughts and emotions. It also guides our reflection on ourselves, allowing us to situate ourselves in time, between small – or large – past stories and future projects. A capacity that researchers consider essential to achieve a state of subjective well-being, as they call happiness.
Are we to conclude that we can only have access to one share of happiness predetermined by our precuneus? Not quite. Scientists claim that around 50% of our subjective well-being depends on genetic factors. The rest is up to everyone. Perhaps by cultivating those moments of life that the Pulseurs talk about so well on the EDF Pulse & You platform. Moments that sometimes depend only on us. Like sharing breakfast every morning with the one you love.
The researchers seem to want to confirm this. Some activities affect our brain connections. The practice of meditation, for example, could cause an increase in the volume of the precuneus. Giving at the same time, like a surge of happiness.
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Subject produced in partnership with EDF teams
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