Optimists? You can recognize them by their brains.

There are those for whom life is always uphill and "see only bleak things." But then there are those for whom the future is all rosy. In short, pessimists and optimists. The research focused on the latter, reaching a singular conclusion: all people who identify as optimistic reveal similar patterns of brain activity when they reflect on future scenarios.

The Japanese study on Pnas

The results of a study in which researchers asked 87 participants to complete a questionnaire to reveal their level of optimism were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). A test to take, a plane ride, or even a simple medical checkup: for some, and there are many, a positive attitude prevails, while for others (just as many) all they can do is predict the worst, even a catastrophic worst. "Optimists appear to use a shared neural framework to organize thoughts about the future, likely reflecting a similar mental processing style, rather than identical ideas," says Kuniaki Yanagisawa of Kobe University in Japan and the study's lead author.

The scientist emphasizes that the results could clarify previous findings showing that optimists were able to have better chances in society: "Our study reveals that the foundation of the social success of this group of people could be precisely a shared reality: brains literally on the same wavelength, a condition that could allow for a deeper and more intuitive connection."

All participants underwent brain MRI scans, during which each was asked to imagine different possible future events, some positive—such as taking a trip around the world—others neutral or negative, such as being fired. A subgroup was then asked to imagine death-related scenarios. The team found that the most optimistic participants showed greater similarities in the region involved in future-oriented thinking, known as the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC).

Being on the same wavelength

Yanagisawa hypothesizes that the greater diversity of brain activity among pessimists reflects a more diverse range of worries when they thought about negative scenarios.

But this isn't the only possibility the scholar hints at when he suggests that optimists might see their future within a shared framework of socially accepted goals, from which pessimists might feel excluded for personal reasons. "What if the common phrase 'being on the same wavelength' isn't just a metaphor, but a neural reality?" asks study co-author Kuniaki Yanagisawa , a social psychologist and neuroscientist at the same University of Kobe.

Optimists are all the same

According to the researchers, the study's conclusions reflect parallels with the opening line of Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." So what? In response, the team writes: "Based on this principle, we believe that all optimists are alike, but that each less optimistic individual imagines the future in his or her own way."

The least vivid negative events

Lisa Bortolotti of the University of Birmingham (not involved in the study) believes that optimists project negative events in less vivid detail, so much so that they are less affected by them: "The results would tell us that optimism is not equivalent to a form of irrationality or distortion of reality, because it doesn't change the way we see things, but the way they affect us. Visualizing a positive outcome in detail as achievable and desirable pushes us to appreciate it and work towards achieving it, ultimately increasing the likelihood of achieving it."