September 3, 2003 – Positive and happy people are said to have stronger immune systems than those who are negative and depressed, which may lead to better health.
Researchers1 asked 52 participants to describe the most positive and the most negative experience of their life, while their brain activity was measured. Then, the participants received a flu shot and were examined two weeks, four weeks and six months later.
Those in whom particularly intense activity was detected in the right prefrontal area of the brain, a section of the brain associated with feelings of depression, had a weaker immune response to the vaccine. The reverse was also true, the strongest immune response having been detected in subjects whose left prefrontal area, which is linked to feelings of happiness, had been the most active.
These results resemble those published last month by American researchers2, according to which the intensity of a cold seems less great in positive people than in negative people.
For this study, 334 participants were asked about their attitude to life and then classified as “positive” or “negative”. The researchers then deliberately infected them with the common cold virus. Positive people were no less likely to get colds, but the intensity of their symptoms seemed less than in the other group.
The link between a positive attitude and reduced symptoms is unclear, but researchers found that positive people generally had better lifestyles (including exercise, diet, and health). sleep), in addition to having lower levels of three stress-related hormones.
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
According to CBS News, BBCNews, HealthDayNews; July 22, September 2, 2003.
1. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. www.pnas.org
2. Cohen S, Doyle WJ, Turner RB, Alper CM, Skoner DP. Emotional style and susceptibility to the common cold. Psychosom Med 2003 Jul-Aug; 65 (4): 652-7.
