Increased optimism as a neurological disorder

 In chronic optimists cortex of the frontal lobes of the brain does not perceive and analyze the information, if that does not meet the high expectations.Some people attaches to an increased optimism. Half-empty glass for them is always half full, and permanent losses favorite football team does not prevent them hope for a future rematch. This attitude to the reality, of course, reduces stress and anxiety about the future. But compulsive optimism makes sometimes ignore the obvious, and unreasonably positive attitude can lead to a crash when no optimism will help. Researchers from University College London (UK) tried to identify the neurophysiological basis of such "positive inadequate."Nineteen volunteers showed different "trouble" (of 80) from car theft to Parkinson's syndrome patient, and then asked to rate the likelihood of such a development for them. Then the subjects were reported to the real statistics on each occasion. All the while, the brain activity of the respondents were recorded using fMRI. After scanning the participants were asked to re-evaluate for themselves the likelihood of an event and pass the test to determine the level of optimism.As the authors write in the journal Nature Neuroscience, people were more inclined to revise on an assessment only when real chances were better than expected. For example, if the objective statistics on cancer was 30%, and for himself the probability was set at 40%, the second time the person willingly lowered its rate to 32%. If the initial estimate was below the objective, none of the hard-core optimists correct its forecast was in no hurry, preferring to ignore bad data.A brain scan showed with the following. All experimental Increases in the frontal lobes of the cortex, where the real statistics are better than expected. Brain apologized and actively counting chances. But if the objective statistics did not meet expectations, then superoptimistov activity of some parts of the frontal lobes (eg, the inferior frontal gyrus) was suppressed. The higher the level of optimism - the less active are the frontal cortex in response to the objective "negative" and the less brain was inclined to regard their results as erroneous.We can say, though with some reservations, that optimism is a genus of chronic neurological disorders - dysfunction of the frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex.Is there any hope that will be possible to create some medicine that eliminates a tendency to see the world through rose-colored glasses? Positive attitude to the world, of course, keeps the peace of mind and relieves stress. But, as the researchers say, the recent financial crisis, if not to consider conspiracy theories, was largely due to an extremely optimistic spirit world army of financiers. Any tablet, reduce a brain could do much more to save the peace of mind of the population of the Earth, rather than risk the economic experiments.