The Science of Being Happy

I’m a science-enthusiast. I like facts and evidence because extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and this is more relevant than ever with social media offering everyone the opportunity to share an opinion (very often about things they know nothing about).

The problem is that opinions influence, but opinions are not facts.

In the first episode of my brand new podcast series human, my co-host Matt Boyles and I, as we explore what it means to be human, discuss the topic of happiness and its importance and relevance to our species.

Despite their differences, pride, shame and guilt all activate similar parts of your brain (including, if we can for a moment get specific and “sciency”, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala and insula).

Interestingly though, pride is the most powerful of these emotions at triggering activity in these brain regions, which explains why we often wallow in guilt and shame: our brain is actually being self-rewarded for it.

If you’re a worrier and spend time worrying about existing problems or potential problems, that’s because your brain is rewarded for that, too: it feels, to you at least, as though you’re at least doing something about your problems. Inside the brain, worrying helps to calm your limbic system by increasing activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, and decreasing activity in the amygdala. What does that mean for us in the real world? Well, neuroscientists say that when faced with guilt, or shame or anxious worrying, we should ask ourselves one simple question: “What am I grateful for?” – because gratitude boosts levels of dopamine and in turn serotonin, two of our feel-good neurotransmitters.

By considering what we are grateful for, it forces us to concentrate on the more positive aspects of our life and helps shift our focus from the worrying and negativity. We can literally retrain our brain. However, interestingly it’s not necessarily the finding things to be grateful for that matters.

If you can’t find any, that’s okay because it’s the searching for them and contemplation that affects our brain most by increasing neural density: our neurons become more efficient. Now, if you wake up feeling awful, that’s also okay. Well, it’s not, but it isn’t as much of a problem as you might think. If after a confrontation you’re left feeling less than positive, try to describe that feeling and give it a name - literally own the emotion you’re experiencing: are you sad? Anxious? Tired? Let down?

By putting feelings into words, we become more consciously aware of how we feel, which in turn reduces the impact that the emotions have on our emotional amygdala reactivity. That’s why it is possible to literally flip the switch on what we are thinking. Just so long as you don’t suppress emotions – that can backfire, and pretty badly, too.

You might seem positive and happy on the outside but negative emotions inwardly affect us, specifically our limbic system. So powerful is this concept (which has been understood for centuries), that it is used by hostage negotiators because labelling emotions helps to put them into context.

Making decisions can also help to make us happier because it reduces worry and anxiety, engaging the prefrontal cortex in a positive way. It really is brain-deep. Decision making helps to overcome striatum activity, which usually pulls us towards a negative impulse and routine. Decisions which are simply “good enough” at the time are absolutely fine – it’s still a decision after all! Being a perfectionist can be stressful and brain studies demonstrate this, too: it overwhelms our brain with emotions and ultimately leaves us feeling less in control, leading to a bizarrely ironic result. When we make a decision, our brains feel that we have control and that feeling of control in turn reduces stress by increasing rewarding dopamine activity.

A classic study involved two rats: both were given cocaine but one had to pull a lever first in order to receive it; the other one didn’t have to do anything. The rat who had to pull the lever got a bigger boost of dopamine because when we make a decision and then achieve something as a result of that decision, we feel better. Which is exactly why going to the gym, or doing something that you feel you have to do or should do, is just so difficult. It’s not a willing, voluntary decision and so our brains don’t get the pleasure boost from achieving the activity.

Choice is a hugely important factor in managing stress.

An immediate way to boost happiness is by touching people. Now, please continue reading before we all get ‘grabby’. Physical contact releases oxytocin and while it’s not always appropriate to touch people, as I frequently remind my window cleaner, small touches like handshakes and pats on the back; hugs or even a hand on a shoulder or forearm, can make you feel more persuasive and increase team performance, too.

Research shows us that long hugs are especially effective because they release oxytocin, which reduces the reactivity of the amygdala but you might want to be selective about who you handout the long hugs to... Admittedly I’m a long hugger but I let people know so when we get to that awkward “little bit too long” moment, we’re all aware and in the same boat. I think.