The Neuroscience of Positive Emotions and Affect: Implications for Cultivating Happiness and Wellbeing

The Neuroscience of Positive Emotions and Affect: Implications for Cultivating Happiness and Wellbeing. Rebecca Alexander et al. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, December 8 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.12.002

Highlights

• Neurophysiological correlates of positive emotions contribute to wellbeing.

• Brain networks that implement positive emotions are flexible and modifiable.

• Developmental, social, and environmental factors impact positive emotions.

• Meditation, contemplative practices, and flow cultivate positive emotions.

• Linguistic dimensions contribute to advancing the neuroscience of positive emotions.

Abstract: This review paper provides an integrative account regarding neurophysiological correlates of positive emotions and affect that cumulatively contribute to the scaffolding for positive emotions and wellbeing in humans and other animals. This paper reviews the associations among neurotransmitters, hormones, brain networks, and cognitive functions in the context of positive emotions and affect. Consideration of lifespan developmental perspectives are incorporated, and we also examine the impact of healthy social relationships and environmental contexts on the modulation of positive emotions and affect. The neurophysiological processes that implement positive emotions are dynamic and modifiable, and meditative practices as well as flow states change patterns of brain function and ultimately support wellbeing are also discussed. This review is part of “The Human Affectome Project” (http://neuroqualia.org/background.php), and in order to advance a primary aim of the Human Affectome Project, we also reviewed relevant linguistic dimensions and terminology that characterizes positive emotions and wellbeing. These linguistic dimensions are discussed within the context of the neuroscience literature with the overarching goal of generating novel recommendations for advancing neuroscience research on positive emotions and wellbeing.

Keywords: NeurosciencePositive EmotionsPositive AffectWellbeingLinguistics

10. Conclusions

Arguably, it is the experience, interpretation, and regulation of positive stimuli and emotions whose cumulative effects ultimately lead to the experience of happiness, life satisfaction, and wellbeing (Bryant, 2003; Cohn et al., 2009; Diener et al., 2009; Silton et al., 2020). As this present review illustrates, experiencing positive emotions benefits psychological and physical wellbeing in numerous, intersecting ways, including modulating neurophysiological correlates within the central and peripheral nervous systems. Yet, rates of mental health problems are rising and negatively impacting daily life function for an increasingly large number of people across the lifespan (World Health Organization, 2017). At the societal level, this poses problematic implications for complicating the recovery from co-occurring noncommunicable health disorders (e.g., obesity, diabetes, asthma, etc.; World Health Organization, 2014) and these issues are often accompanied by deteriorating social bonds and community support.

Noting the importance of happiness and wellbeing in social progress at the global level, the United Nations commissioned its first World Happiness Report (WHR) in 2012 (Helliwell et al., 2012). This report, based on a single rating of happiness, suggests some geographical regions score above (Northern America, Australia, and New Zealand; Western, Central, and Eastern Europe; and Latin America and the Caribbean) and below (sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia) the mean global level of happiness. According to the 2018 WHR (Helliwell et al., 2018), nearly 75% of the variability in global levels of happiness is explained by six factors: 1) the perceived availability of social support, 2) national gross domestic product (GDP), 3) average healthy life expectancy, 4) the perceived freedom to make life choices, 5) generosity as indicated by self-reported monetary donations to a charity, and 6) perceived levels of corruption. Other research based on multiple waves of the World Value Survey has shown that the greater the inequality in income within nations, the greater the inequalities in national happiness and life satisfaction (Ovaska & Takashima, 2010). While many of the items reflect high-level structural factors that governing bodies can aim to influence, the findings from our present review highlight the importance of strong social bonds for achieving happiness and wellbeing (section 6.1) which remain an area that individuals and community-based organizations can work to cultivate via strategic urban design and built environments (section 7) that create space and opportunities for meaningful social connections (Bates et al., 2018).

While scholars and policymakers have increasingly recognized the importance of happiness and wellbeing in assessing progress and development around the globe, one nation in particular – the small nation of Bhutan nestled between India and China – has explicitly committed to the national goal of enhancing happiness (Helliwell et al., 2012; Nidup et al., 2018). In Bhutan, happiness is defined holistically as encompassing economic, spiritual, social, cultural, and ecological perspectives and the government has been actively engaged in increasing the proportion of citizens who meet sufficiency standards on a range of indicators of deprivation (e.g., water, sanitation, electricity, education; Nidup et al., 2018). Bhutan’s culture is strongly rooted in the Buddhist religion and spirituality as well as compassion are core components of Bhutanese life and are viewed by the Bhutanese authorities as essential to the domain of Gross National Happiness Index (Helliwell et al., 2012). While global levels of happiness are related to GDP and income, psychological wellbeing also contributes to national levels of happiness resulting in the assessment of these factors by the United Nations in recent years with Bhutan having explicitly committed to increasing happiness levels among its citizens. Ostensibly, many of the components of happiness reviewed in the present paper are incorporated into the everyday fabric of life in Bhutan.

Short of living in Bhutan, actively engaging in behaviors that are associated with happiness and wellbeing may need to be actively practiced in contemporary society across the lifespan. As reviewed in section 8.1., mindfulness meditation and loving-kindness meditation have been linked with positive emotion outcomes and wellbeing, but additional research is needed to understand how “dosage,” and specific components of contemplative practices modulate positive emotions and associated neurophysiological correlates. Similarly, the positive psychology literature has developed a number of evidence-based strategies designed to increase and enhance positive emotions (Quoidbach et al., 2015), yet very little is known about how human neurophysiology might change in response to these strategies, and this remains an area for future research (Silton et al., 2020). Given that increased happiness is frequently observed in late life, future research may benefit from harnessing some of the strategies that are naturally employed by older individuals to enhance the experience of positive emotions (see section 5.2).

Since the present review paper is largely focused on happiness and wellbeing outcomes, we have skirted the topic regarding the relation between positive emotion dysregulation and psychopathology. Needless to say, the experience of excessive happiness and positive emotions can have negative implications for psychological wellbeing, such that experiencing positive emotions in excess is related to bipolar disorder (e.g., Gruber, 2011). Other disturbances in positive emotion regulation have been associated with depressive disorders (Silton et al., 2020). Research on “emodiversity” postulates that experiencing a range of positive and negative emotions is associated with positive health outcomes (Quoidbach et al., 2014) and additional research may be warranted to contextualize the role of positive emotions within individuals’ affective repertoire, with close to consideration of environmental and contextual factors, including the role of culture.

Given the importance of positive emotions to psychological health, the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative within the United States’ National Institute of Mental Health has a distinct domain dedicated to positive emotions titled “Positive Valence Systems.” However, the terminology employed in positive emotion research, or in the linguistic adjudication in the present review is much broader and diverse than the terminology associated with the Positive Valence Systems domain in the RDoC matrix, which has become a prominent multidimensional model used to classify mental disorders for research purposes. Progress in theoretical and treatment development will benefit from the reconciliation of the terms and constructs represented in the RDoC matrix with those typically employed in the field (Gruber et al., 2019). The RDoC initiative is aiming to move the needle on enhancing prevention and intervention approaches to psychological disorders. The stakes are high, and linguistics may be important to guide the inclusion of broader positive emotion constructs into the RDoC that go beyond reward, learning, efforts, and habit. Much of the neurophysiological research reviewed in the present paper is correlational, and by expanding the RDoC Positive Valence Systems to incorporate a broader positive emotions nomenclature, longitudinal, experimental, and intervention research will accelerate and more specific mechanisms of positive emotions may be identified.

Finally, animal research pertaining to happiness and positive emotions is integrated throughout this review. With regard to the study of positive emotional states in animals has progressed over the last years, much remains to be learned. A better understanding of positive emotions in animals, across taxa, will contribute to advancing knowledge regarding human positive emotions and their evolutionary origins (Anderson & Adolphs, 2014; de Vere and Kuczaj, 2016). Additionally, it is an important tool to improve the welfare of captive animals (Boissy et al., 2007). Thus, we echo previous calls made by other researchers to counterbalance the bias toward studying negative emotions in animals and humans and continue to shift the focus toward the study of positive emotions in order to enhance our understanding of critical factors and strategies that contribute to societal happiness and wellbeing.