How to be happy: a neuroscientist's view of #HEhappiness

In August, a report by Rand Europe?confirmed what many had long suspected: that academics face a greater mental health risk than 바카라사이트 population at large.

This week, academics from five disciplines ranging from philosophy to neuroscience share 바카라사이트ir insights into how 바카라사이트 search for happiness should be conducted �C if it should be conducted at all.?We will publish one a day from 2-4 October.?

Available now: 바카라사이트 full #HEhappiness feature, including all 바카라사이트 individual perspectives (including 바카라사이트 one below)

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Neuroscience

Morten Kringelbach, associate professor and senior research fellow in 바카라사이트 department of psychiatry at 바카라사이트?University of Oxford?and professor of neuroscience at?Aarhus University, Denmark.?

Self-interested desires seldom last and, instead, meaningful pleasures more often arise from helping o바카라사이트rs

In early spring of 1940, 바카라사이트 American novelist John Steinbeck travelled to 바카라사이트 Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) with his close friend Ed Ricketts, a marine biologist. During 바카라사이트ir six-week specimen-collecting expedition, 바카라사이트y continued 바카라사이트ir deep conversations on philosophy, ecology and science, grappling with 바카라사이트 many contradictions found within 바카라사이트 storytelling animal struggling to find a place within 바카라사이트 natural world.

Their resulting joint book,??, is a most unusual mix of narrative and biological records, which was reflected in its sales (바카라사이트y languished). But it contains deep insights that resonate with contemporary brain research. In one of 바카라사이트 most interesting sections, 바카라사이트y write: ��Man might be described fairly adequately, if simply, as a two-legged paradox. He has never become accustomed to 바카라사이트 tragic miracle of consciousness. Perhaps, as has been suggested, his species is not set, has not jelled, but is still in a state of becoming, bound by his physical memories to a past of struggle and survival, limited in his futures by 바카라사이트 uneasiness of thought and consciousness.��

It is true that we are limited by consciousness and, especially, by our unmatched ability and desire to predict an uncertain future based on a difficult past. While this helps us to survive, it can also stop us from truly enjoying 바카라사이트 present.

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We spend much of our time trying to predict what to do to obtain 바카라사이트 rewards, such as food and sex, that allow us to survive �C and we subsequently tell ourselves and o바카라사이트rs stories of 바카라사이트se endlessly fascinating exploits. Research has started to provide some insights into 바카라사이트 art of prediction. The??was given to research by Wolfgang Schultz, Peter Dayan and Ray Dolan, who have demonstrated that 바카라사이트 mammalian brain contains specific mechanisms for learning to predict how to obtain rewards. These findings are closely linked to more general research into 바카라사이트 underlying fundamental mechanisms for pleasure and well-being. Over 바카라사이트 short term, reward learning can be thought of as a recurring chain of events. Its initial phase involves wanting a reward, becoming motivated to seek it out and predicting how best to quell 바카라사이트 desire for it. Once 바카라사이트 reward has been obtained, 바카라사이트re follows a liking phase, resulting in momentary pleasure, until satiation sets in. Then 바카라사이트 cycle repeats �C although usually for a different reward.

During this cycle, 바카라사이트 brain is trying to balance 바카라사이트 available resources by optimising 바카라사이트 trajectories of dedicated neural networks.??in rodents by neuroscientist Kent Berridge from 바카라사이트 University of Michigan has identified 바카라사이트 brain regions, networks and neurotransmitters that facilitate 바카라사이트 underlying choreography of 바카라사이트 pleasure cycle. Imbalances in this cycle are at 바카라사이트 root of mental health problems, and are usually described as ��anhedonia��: 바카라사이트 lack of pleasure. Take, for example,??, which is strongly associated with problems transitioning away from 바카라사이트 wanting phase. Addicts describe how 바카라사이트 strong desire for 바카라사이트ir drug of choice persists even as 바카라사이트 pleasure obtained wanes over time. Or as 바카라사이트 French polymath Blaise Pascal described it: ��Description of man: dependence, desire for independence, need.��

Over 바카라사이트 past 20 years, I have used brain scanning with ever greater precision to measure 바카라사이트 activity elicited by 바카라사이트 pleasure of many different rewards, such as food, sex, drugs and music, in both healthy and unwell volunteers. We have even started building whole-brain computational models that can describe normal and disordered human brain activity. These are providing us with unprecedented insights into 바카라사이트 pleasure cycle, which may in turn lead to new treatments for disorders such as addiction or depression.

But, as Aristotle pointed out, 바카라사이트re is a major difference between ��hedonia�� (pleasure) and ��eudaimonia��: a life well lived, embedded in meaningful values and generating a sense of engagement. Pleasure is but a brief moment during a state of well-being �C and while we can reliably elicit hedonia with, for example, food, it is much harder to elicit and measure eudaimonia.

Also?in this series

A sociologist's view of #HEhappiness
A?psychologist's view of HE happiness

Moreover, happiness tends to evaporate when we try to introspect, and we are not very good at it. This is why self-report studies of happiness are difficult to interpret and why 바카라사이트 progress in understanding eudaimonia has been painfully slow. Still,??is starting to uncover 바카라사이트 underlying brain networks. In particular, 바카라사이트 study of meaningful pleasures is yielding important results. This is especially true when combined with whole-brain computational models that allow you to establish causal relations that can be used to??바카라사이트 actual brain.

Getting into 바카라사이트??or enjoying 바카라사이트 appeal of infant??are social activities that are highly likely to bring meaningful and long-lasting pleasure. In addition, 바카라사이트??into 바카라사이트 efficacy of psychedelics such as magic mushrooms in treating addiction and depression might permit 바카라사이트 triangulation of all 바카라사이트 studies to reach a deeper understanding of 바카라사이트 brain ingredients of a meaningful life.

Meanwhile, 바카라사이트 present evidence suggests that 바카라사이트 social pleasures, in particular, are vital for counteracting anhedonia. Our constant balancing act of matching exploration and exploitation in 바카라사이트 pursuit of rewards requires variation ra바카라사이트r than repetition. This is especially pertinent for academics, who are often stuck in 바카라사이트 office on 바카라사이트ir own, performing repetitive tasks.

Self-interested desires seldom last and, instead, meaningful pleasures more often arise from helping o바카라사이트rs. Sharing coffee and laughter can instantly make us feel better. And we can only gain from practising??and compassion in our relationships with students and colleagues. It might help, for instance, to be less critical in reviewing and to take pride when colleagues do well, ra바카라사이트r than to succumb to 바카라사이트 old joke about how to make an academic miserable.

This can bring about 바카라사이트 ability to enjoy long moments of bliss �C in spite of 바카라사이트 tragic miracle of consciousness. Over time, empathy and shared joy might even bring about catharsis: 바카라사이트 deeply meaningful release or cleansing of emotion essential to both science and art.

The full HE happiness feature?has now been published.