Brain scans of happy people show they respond more positively to their environment

By Rob Cooper

Last updated at 8:44 PM on 16th November 2011

People who appear to view the world through rose-tinted glasses respond more positively to happy images, research has found.

Psychologists discovered that some people's brains were attuned to react to nice pictures – while others failed to react.

Academics analysed the reaction in the amygdala - the part of the brain which processes images and our emotions.

Positive person? Scientists studied the effect on the amygdala, found in the medial temporal lobes of the brain, when people were shown different images

While all people reacted in the same way to negative images, the happiest people were most likely to react to positive images, the Guardian reported.

This effect is believed to reinforce itself over time – giving some people a rosy outlook outlook.

The study showed that it is not because of ignorance that people respond in a positive way – but a chemical reaction in the brain.

Researchers at Ohio State University showed 38 volunteers a selection of images and analysed scans to see how they reacted.

The positive pictures included a bouquet of flowers and kittens in a basket. Negative photos were a person being threatened with a gun and an unhappy person.

Before the volunteers were shown the images, their happiness was assessed on a seven-point scale.

Happy reaction? The volunteers were shown a series of 'positive' and 'negative images. One of the happy images was some kittens in a basket

People who had scored five or above had the most positive reactions.

The study, carried out by Wil Cunningham and Tabitha Kirkland, were revealed at a Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington.

Dr Cunningham told the Guardian that people who were able to see the good side to any given situation probably had a better life as a result.

‘People with rose-tinted glasses are more responsive to positive things in the environment. But it's not at the expense of the negatives in life,’ he said.

‘They're not seeing the positives in everything, but they see the positives where they can find them.

‘They extract both types of meaning from the world and probably have a better life because of it.’