The pursuit of happiness is common to all human endeavour. While some stay focussed on material possessions, others seek self-help books, meditation and exercising to stay positive and happy. Now, a new study has found cues to the bigger questions: what is happiness and where does it happen?

A team of scientists at Kyoto University have found the neurological answer to this question. According to a study led by Wataru Sato, the combination of satisfaction in life and happy emotions comes together in a region of the brain called the precuneus – a part in the medial parietal lobe. This region activates while experiencing consciousness, while the coming together of happy emotions and life satisfaction constitutes overall happiness.

Wataru Sato, lead author on the study, said, “Several studies have shown that meditation increases grey matter mass in the precuneus,” reports Eurekalert. “This new insight on where happiness happens in the brain will be useful for developing happiness programs based on scientific research.”

Happiness is a varied experience for different people; for example, some might feel happier than others on receiving compliments. The research team found that such emotional factors along with the satisfaction of life comprise the largely subjective feeling of being happy.

The research participants’ brains were scanned using MRI. It was followed by a survey assessing their general levels of happiness, their intensity of feeling emotions and their life satisfaction. An analysis of the results showed that a greater mass of grey matter in the precuneus was associated with higher scores on the happiness surveys. Those who feel sadness less intensely, feel happiness more intensely and have a larger precuneus and are thus able to find more meaning in life.

The study has been published in the journal Scientific Reports. “Our results show that structural neuroimaging may serve as a complementary objective measure of subjective happiness,” said the authors on the study.

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