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The Human Brain

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The Biology of Happiness

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and Quality of Life Research ((BRIEFSWELLBEING))

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Abstract

All bodily components are vulnerable to malfunction, but the brain is particularly vulnerable. If the environment is different from what the genes are designed to live in, the risk of ailments increases. There are three core mood modules: seeking and liking (for rewards), and pain (for punishment); together they are responsible for generating affect. It is difficult to predict whether a situation, or a type of emotion, activates pleasure or pain. Fear and grief, for example, can activate either—depending primarily on cognitive input. The mood modules operate on a principle of ‘common currency’. The concepts of anhedonia, pleasure-related analgesia and alliesthesia reflect this observation. The three core modules apparently cater to all sorts of positive and negative feelings, both hedonic and eudaemonic. If negative feelings are not activated, people tend to be above ‘neutral’ on a happiness scale—a notion referred to as a default state of contentment. Although individual genetic constitution is important for happiness, there is considerable room for improvement by optimising the environment.

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  1. Division of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, PO Box 4404, Nydalen, 0403, Oslo, Norway

    Bjørn Grinde

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Grinde, B. (2012). The Human Brain. In: The Biology of Happiness. SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and Quality of Life Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4393-9_3

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