precuneus tagged posts

Researchers have taken looking for love to a whole new level, revealing that different types of love light up different parts of the brain. We use the word ‘love’ in a bewildering range of contexts – from sexual adoration to parental love or the love of nature. Now, more comprehensive imaging of the brain may shed light on why we use the same word for such a diverse collection of human experiences.

‘You see your newborn child for the first time. The baby is soft, healthy and hearty – your life’s greatest wonder. You feel love for the little one.’

The above statement was one of many simple scenarios presented to fifty-five ...

Brain region significantly associated with the subjective happiness score. (Left) A statistical parametric map (p < 0.001, peak-level uncorrected for display purposes). The area is overlaid on the spatially normalized gray matter tissue probability map. The blue cross indicates the location of the peak voxel. The red-white color scale indicates the T-value. (Right) A scatter plot of the adjusted gray matter volume as a function of the subjective happiness score at the peak voxel.

The study paves the way for measuring happiness objectively – and also provides insights on a neurologically based way of being happy. Exercising, meditating, scouring self-help books… we go out of our way to be happy, but do we really know what happiness is?

Wataru Sato and his team at Kyoto University have f...