WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Imagine receiving a big
chunk of cash in the future. Or winning a prize.
Chances are, such optimistic thoughts are coming from two
places in the brain that play an important role in enabling
people to, as the old song says, accentuate the positive, New
York University scientists said Wednesday.
Pinpointing the brain regions involved in optimism and
positive thinking about the future, the researchers said, may
also have shed light on what might be going wrong in people
with depression.
The researchers used sophisticated brain imaging to track
brain activity in 15 young adults -- seven men and eight women
-- while they asked them imagine future scenarios. They
included getting a lot of money, winning an award, going to a
birthday party or ball game or the zoo, being lied to, the end
of a romantic relationship, going to a funeral and others.
