Key points
- Pessimists show unique and varied brain activity patterns
- Study focused on medial prefrontal cortex using fMRI
- Shared thinking may explain stronger social connections in optimists
- Optimism, loneliness, and social traits may overlap neurologically
ISLAMABAD: The famous opening line of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina — “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” — may apply to more than just family life. A new neuroscience study suggests a similar pattern plays out in the brain: optimists share common brain activity when imagining the future, while pessimists each show unique patterns.
The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, help explain how optimism and pessimism are reflected in the brain — and why optimism may be linked to better mental, physical, and social health.
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Led by Dr Kuniaki Yanagisawa of Kobe University in Japan, researchers used fMRI scans to observe brain activity as participants imagined future events involving themselves or their partners. The scenarios were either positive, neutral, or negative. Participants then completed a questionnaire measuring their levels of optimism or pessimism.
Common mental framework
Analysis focused on the medial prefrontal cortex, a brain region tied to future thinking. The study found that brain activity in optimists was strikingly similar when imagining the future, while pessimists showed highly individual patterns. Optimists also displayed more contrast in brain activity between positive and negative events than pessimists.
“This suggests that optimists may share a common mental framework when thinking about the future,” said Yanagisawa. “It could help explain why they find it easier to form social bonds.”
The Anna Karenina principle: Bad things come in more different shades than good ones; Good is more alike than bad. https://t.co/S2TO8l7nMG pic.twitter.com/WrZMTCZOzf
— Rolf Degen (@DegenRolf) June 22, 2020
This theory mirrors the Anna Karenina principle, which posits that successful outcomes share common features, whereas failures are each unique. Previous studies have shown that people with strong social ties — or lower loneliness — tend to have similar brain activity patterns, supporting this idea.
Pessimism can be useful
However, researchers caution against oversimplifying optimism. Cultural values likely shape what is considered “positive,” and traits like optimism, loneliness, and social network centrality may overlap. The study did not account for these factors, making it unclear how distinct or related they are.
Moreover, optimism is not always beneficial. Psychologist Aleea Devitt of the University of Waikato notes that too much optimism can lead to poor planning, while certain forms of pessimism may help individuals prepare more effectively for challenges.
The research, part of a growing body of work, suggests that shared ways of imagining the future may be a core ingredient in how humans connect — and how some minds think alike.
