A recent study from Rutgers University found that thinking about happy memories can shut down your body’s stress response, according toResearch Digest. To come to this conclusion, which was published in Nature Human Behavior, Mauricio Delgado and Megan Speer stressed out 134 volunteers by videotaping them while they dunked their hands into ice cold water. Some spent the time thinking about a positive experience like visiting Disneyland, while the others thought about something mundane like getting luggage ready for the trip.
Thinking Happy Thoughts Really Can Stop You From Being So Stressed
By Ian Servantes
The researchers conducted the same experiment afterward but also scanned their brains using an fMRI. Those who thought about happy memories had increased activity in the regions of the brain associated with emotional regulation and cognitive control, as well as those linked to processing rewards.
“These findings highlight the restorative and protective function of self-generated positive emotions via memory recall the face of stress,” Delgado and Speer said.
Now we know the value of happy thoughts is much greater than a platitude. Put it on a motivational poster with an asterisk that says, “Backed by the scientific method.”
Source: MensHealth.com
