Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Changes in Well-Being: Complementing a Psychosocial Approach with Neurobiological Insights

  • Published:
Social Indicators Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The sustainability of changes in well-being achieved via positive interventions is challenged by findings that happiness levels are constrained by a homeostatic set-point. In this paper, we propose that while generally stable, the neurological and psychophysiological bases of well-being demonstrate plasticity. The neurobiological underpinnings of the hedonic component of well-being are first reviewed, demonstrating the value of both central (such as frontal asymmetry) and peripheral (such as heart rate variability) indices. Convergent evidence that certain well-being interventions are capable of modifying subjective, central and peripheral indices of positive affect or regulation of negative affect is then reported, although there is a clear need for longitudinal research to demonstrate the longevity of changes. It is recommended that a multi-level approach to evaluating positive interventions incorporating subjective psychosocial and neurobiological indices of affective change is adopted by researchers in an attempt to identify interventions most likely to achieve sustained positive outcome. Accumulating evidence through rigorous research that positive interventions can enhance psychosocial and neurophysiological factors can provide a compelling case for more widespread dissemination through public health policy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abelson, J. L., Liberzon, I., Young, E. A., & Khan, S. (2005). Cognitive modulation of the endocrine stress response to a pharmacological challenge in normal and panic disorder subjects. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 668–675.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anokhin, A. P., Heath, A. C., & Myers, E. (2006). Genetic and environmental influences on frontal EEG asymmetry: A twin study. Biological Psychology, 71, 289–295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beauchaine, T. (2001). Vagal tone, development, and Gray’s motivational theory: Toward an integrated model of autonomic nervous system functioning in psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 183–214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beauchaine, T., Gatzke-Kopp, L., & Mead, H. (2007). Polyvagal theory and developmental psychopathology. Emotion dysregulation and conduct problems from preschool to adolescence. Biological Psychology, 74, 174–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beauregard, M., Lévesque, J., & Bourgouin, P. (2001) Neural correlates of conscious self-regulation of emotion. The Journal of Neuroscience, 21, RC165:1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bédard, M., Felteau, M., Mazmanian, D., Fedyk, K., Klein, R., Richardson, J., et al. (2003). Pilot evaluation of a mindfulness-based intervention to improve quality of life among individuals who sustained traumatic brain injuries. Disability and Rehabilitation, 25, 722–731.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernston, G. G., Quigley, K. S., & Lozano, D. (2007). Cardiovascular psychophysiology. In J. T. Cacioppo, L. G. Tassinary, & G. G. Berntson (Eds.), Handbook of psychophysiology (3rd ed., pp. 193–197). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berridge, K. C., & Kringelbach, M. L. (2011). Building a neuroscience of pleasure and well-being. Psychology of Well-Being: Theory, Research and Practice, 1, 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berridge, K. C., & Robinson, T. E. (1998). What is the role of dopamine in reward: Hedonics, learning, or incentive salience? Brain Research Reviews, 28, 308–367.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biswas-Diener, R., Kashdan, T., & King, L. (2009). Two traditions of happiness research, not two distinct types of happiness. Journal of Positive Psychology, 4, 208–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bleil, M. E., Gianaros, P. J., Jennings, J. R., Flory, J. D., & Manuck, S. B. (2008). Trait negative affect: Toward an integrated model of understanding psychological risk for impairment in cardiac autonomic function. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70, 328–337.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blood, A., & Zatorre, R. J. (2001). Intensely pleasurable responses to music correlate with activity in brain regions implicated in reward and emotion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, 98, 11818–11823.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bostock, S., Hamer, M., Wawrzyniak, A. J., Mitchell, E. S., & Steptoe, A. (2011). Positive emotional style and subjective, cardiovascular and cortisol responses to acute laboratory stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 36, 1175–1183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brefczynski-Lewis, J. A., Lutz, A., Schaefer, H. S., Levinson, D. B., & Davidson, R. J. (2008). Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 104, 11483–11488.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brickman, P., & Campbell, D. T. (1971). Hedonic relativism and planning the good society. In M. H. Appley (Ed.), Adaptation-level theory: A symposium (pp. 287–302). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brickman, P., Coates, D., & Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978). Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 917–927.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryant, F. B., & Veroff, J. (2007). Savoring: A new model of positive experience. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, E. A., Wilhelm, F. H., & Gross, J. J. (2006). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia, emotion, and emotion regulation during social interaction. Psychophysiology, 43, 612–622.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caspi, A., Hariri, A. R., Holmes, A., Uher, R., & Moffitt, T. E. (2010). Genetic sensitivity to the environment: The case of the serotonin transporter gene and its implications for studying complex diseases and traits. American Journal of Psychiatry, 167, 509–527.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coan, J. A., & Allen, J. J. B. (2004). Frontal EEG asymmetry as a moderator and mediator of emotion. Biological Psychology, 67, 7–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S., Doyle, W. J., Turner, R. B., Alper, C. M., & Skoner, D. P. (2003). Emotional style and susceptibility to the common cold. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, 652–657.

    Google Scholar 

  • Creswell, J. D., Way, B. M., Eisenberger, N. I., & Lieberman, M. D. (2007). Neural correlates of dispositional mindfulness during affect labeling. Psychosomatic Medicine, 69, 560–565.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummins, R. A. (2003). Normative life satisfaction: Measurement issues and a homeostatic model. Social Indicators Research, 64, 225–256.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummins, R. (2010). Subjective wellbeing, homeostatically protected mood and depression: A synthesis. Journal of Happiness Studies, 11, 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummins, R. (2012). Positive psychology and subjective wellbeing homeostasis: A critical examination of congruence. In A. Efklides & D. Moraitou (Eds.), Quality of life: A positive psychology perspective. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummins, R. A., Gullone, E., & Lau, A. L. D. (2003). The universality of subjective wellbeing indicators. Social Indicators Research Series, 16, 7–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, R. J. (1993). Parsing affective space: Prespectives from neuropsychology and psychophysiology. Neuropsychology, 7, 464–475.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, R. J. (2003). Affective neuroscience and psychophysiology: Toward a synthesis. Psychophysiology, 40, 655–665.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, R. J. (2004a). Well-being and affective style: Neural substrates and biobehavioural correlates. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 359, 1395–1411.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, R. J. (2004b). What does the prefrontal cortex “do” in affect: Perspectives in frontal EEG asymmetry research. Biological Psychology, 67, 219–234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, R. J., Ekman, P., Saron, C. D., Senulis, J. A., & Friesen, W. V. (1990). Approach-withdrawal and cerebral asymmetry: Emotional expression and brain physiology I. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 330–341.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, R. J., & Irwin, W. (1999). The functional neuroanatomy of emotion and affective style. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 3, 11–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, R. J., Jackson, D. C., & Kalin, N. H. (2000). Emotion, plasticity, context, and regulation: Perspectives from affective neuroscience. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 890–909.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, R. J., Kabat-Zinn, J., Schumacker, J., Rosenkranz, M., Muller, D., Sontorelli, S. F., et al. (2003). Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, 564–570.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, R. J., & Rickman, M. (1999). Behavioral inhibition and the emotional circuitry of the brain: Stability and plasticity during the early childhood years. In L. A. Schmidt & J. Schulkin (Eds.), Extreme fear and shyness: Origins and outcomes (pp. 67–87). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Delle Fave, A., Brdar, I., Freire, T., Vella-Brodrick, D., & Wissing, M. P. (2011). The Eudaimonic and hedonic components of happiness: Qualitative and quantitative findings. Social Indicators Research, 100, 185–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Depue, R. A., & Collins, P. F. (1999). Neurobiology of the structure of personality: Dopamine, facilitation of incentive motivation, and extraversion. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 491–569.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E. (1994). Assessing subjective well-being: Progress and opportunities. Social Indicators Research, 31, 103–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., & Chan, M. Y. (2011). Happy people live longer: Subjective well-being contributes to health and longevity. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being. doi:10.1111/j.1758-0854.2010.01045.x.

  • Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., & Scollon, C. N. (2006). Beyond the hedonic treadmill: Revising the adaptation theory of well-being. American Psychologist, 61, 305–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). SWB: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 276–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dillon, D. G., & LaBar, K. S. (2005). Startle modulation during conscious emotion regulation is arousal-dependent. Behavioral Neuroscience, 119, 1118–1124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dolan, P., & Metcalfe, R. (2012). Measuring subjective wellbeing: Recommendations on measures for use by national governments. Journal of Social Policy, 1, 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eşel, E. (2009). Probable cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of religious and mystic experiences. Bulletin of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 19, 193–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fava, G. A., Rafanelli, C., Cazzaro, M., Conti, S., & Grandi, S. (1998). Well-being therapy: A novel psychotherapeutic model for residual symptoms of affective disorders. Psychological Medicine, 28, 475–480.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flores-Gutierrez, E. O., Diaz, J.-L., Barrios, F., Guevara, M. A., del Rio-Portilla, Y., Corsi-Cabrera, M., & del Flores-Gutierrez, E. O. (2009). Differential alpha coherence hemispheric patterns in men and women during pleasant and unpleasant emotion induced by music masterpieces. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 71, 43–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fordyce, M. W. (1977). Development of a program to increase happiness. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 24, 511–521.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fordyce, M. W. (1983). A program to increase happiness: Further studies. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 4, 483–498.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, N. A. (1991). If it’s not left, it’s right. Electroencephalograph asymmetry and the development of emotion. American Psychologist, 46, 863–872.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, N. A. (1994). Dynamic cerebral processes underlying emotion regulation. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59, 152–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, E., Ridgewell, A., & Ashwin, C. (2009). Looking on the bright side: Biased attention and the human serotonin transporter gene. Royal Society B, 276, 1747–1751.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, N. A., Rubin, K. H., Calkins, S. D., Marshall, T. R., Coplan, R. J., Porges, S. W., et al. (1995). Frontal activation asymmetry and social competence at four years of age. Child Development, 66, 1770–1784.

    Google Scholar 

  • French, E. D., Dillon, K., & Wu, X. (1997). Cannabinoids excite dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmentum and substantia nigra. NeuroReport, 8, 649–652.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, E. M., Hayney, M., Love, G. D., Singer, B., & Ryff, C. D. (2007). Plasma interleukin-6 and soluble IL-6 receptors are associated with psychological well-being in aging women. Health Psychology, 26, 305–313.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, B. H., & Thayer, J. F. (1998a). Autonomic balance revisited: Panic anxiety and heart rate variability. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 44, 133–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, B. H., & Thayer, J. F. (1998b). Anxiety and autonomic flexibility: A cardiovascular approach. Biological Psychology, 48, 303–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giuliani, N. R., Drabant, E. M., & Gross, J. J. (2011). Anterior cingulate cortex volume and emotion regulation: Is bigger better? Biological Psychology, 86, 379–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldin, P. R., McRae, K., Ramel, W., & Gross, J. J. (2008). The neural bases of emotion regulation: Reappraisal and suppression of negative emotion. Biological Psychiatry, 63, 577–586.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldsmith, H. H., Buss, K. A., & Lemery, K. S. (1997). Toddler and childhood temperament: Expanded content, stronger genetic evidence, new evidence for the importance of environment. Developmental Psychology, 33, 891–905.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldsmith, H. H., Pollak, S. D., & Davidson, R. J. (2008). Developmental neuroscience perspectives on emotion reugulation. Child Development Perspectives, 2, 132–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, J. A., Courtemanche, J., Duerden, E. G., Duncan, G. H., & Rainville, P. (2010). Cortical thickness and pain sensitivity in Zen meditators. Emotion, 10, 43–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, L. S., Oades, L. G., & Grant, A. M. (2006). Cognitive-behavioural, solution-focused life coaching: Enhancing goal striving, well-being and hope. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 142–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths, T. D., Warren, J. D., Dean, J. L., & Howard, D. (2004). When the feeling’s gone a selective loss of musical emotion. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 75, 344–345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. J. (2008). Emotion regulation. In M. Lewis, J. M. Haviland-Jones, & L. Feldman Barrett (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (3rd ed.). New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 348–362.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haga, S. M., Kraft, P., & Corby, E. K. (2009). Emotion regulation: Antecedents and well-being outcomes of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression in cross-cultural samples. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(3), 271–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harmon-Jones, E., & Allen, J. J. B. (1997). Behavioral activation sensitivity and resting frontal EEG asymmetry: Covariation of putative indicators related to risk for mood disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 106, 159–163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Headey, B. (2006). Life goals matter to happiness: A revision of set-point theory. Social Indicators Research, 86, 213–231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hernandez, G., Hamdani, S., Rajabi, H., et al. (2006). Prolonged rewarding stimulation of the rat medial forebrain bundle: Neurochemical and behavioral consequences. Behavioral Neuroscience, 120(4), 888–904.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hölzel, B. K., Lazar, S. W., Gard, T., Schuman-Olivier, Z., Vago, D. R., & Ott, U. (2011). How does mindfulness meditation work? Proposing mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective. Perspectives on Psychological Sciences, 6(6), 537–559.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hölzel, B. K., Ott, U., Hempel, H., Hackl, A., Wolf, K., Stark, R., et al. (2007). Differential engagement of anterior cingulate and adjacent medial frontal cortex in adept meditators and nonmeditators. Neuroscience Letters, 421, 16–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, D. C., Malmstadt, J. R., Larson, C. L., & Davidson, R. J. (2000). Suppression and enhancement of emotional responses to unpleasant pictures. Psychophysiology, 37, 515–522.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, G. D., & Snyder, D. (1996). Frontal brain asymmetry predicts affective style in men. Behavioral Neuroscience, 100, 36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johansson, B. B. (2006). Music and brain plasticity. European Review, 14, 49–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, N. A., & Field, T. (1999). Massage and music therapies attenuate frontal EEG asymmetry in depressed adolescents. Adolescence, 34, 529–535.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kang, D.-H., Ershler, W. B., Davidson, R. J., Coe, C. L., Wheeler, R. E., & Tomarken, A. J. (1991). Frontal brain asymmetry and immune function. Behavioral Neuroscience, 106, 860–869.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kapogiannis, D., Barbey, A. K., Su, M., Zamboni, G., Krueger, F., & Grafman, J. (2009). Cognitive and neural foundations of religious belief. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 106, 4876–4881.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemp, A. H., Quintana, D. S., Felmingham, K. L., Gray, M. A., Brown, K., & Gatt, J. M. (2010). Impact of depression and antidepressant treatment on heart rate variability: A review and meta-analysis. Biological Psychiatry, 67, 1067–1074.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kempermann, G., Gast, D., et al. (2002). Neuroplasticity in old age: Sustained fivefold induction of hippocampal neurogenesis by long-term environmental enrichment. Annals of Neurology, 52, 135–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keverne, E. B. (2004). Understanding well-being in the evolutionary context of brain development. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 359, 1349–1358.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keyes, C. L. M. (2002). The mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Research, 43, 207–222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keyes, C. L. M. (2005). Mental illness and/or mental health? Investigating axioms of the complete state model of health. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 539–548.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keyes, C. L. M. (2007). Promoting and protecting mental health as flourishing: A complementary strategy for improving national mental health. American Psychologist, 62, 95–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keyes, C. L. M. (2010). The structure of the genetic and environmental influences on mental well-being. American Journal of Public Health, 100, 2379–2385.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, L. A. (2001). The health benefits of writing about life goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 798–807.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinsbourne, M. (1978). Evoluation of language in relation to lateral activation. In M. Kinsbourne (Ed.), Asymmetrical function of the brain (pp. 553–556). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kringelbach, M., & Berridge, K. C. (2009). Towards a functional neuroanatomy of pleasure and happiness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13, 479–487.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lane, R. D., McRae, K., Reiman, E. M., Chen, K., Ahern, G. L., & Thayer, J. F. (2009). Neural correlates of heart rate variability during emotion. NeuroImage, 44, 213–222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lane, R. D., Reiman, E. M., Ahern, G. L., & Thayer, J. F. (2001). Activity in medial prefrontal cortex correlates with vagal component of heart rate variability during emotion. Brain and Cognition, 47, 97–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lane, R. D., Weidenbacher, H., Fort, C. L., Thayer, J. F., Allen, J. J. B. (2008). Subgenual anterior cingulate (BA25) activity covaries with changes in cardiac vagal tone during affective set shifting in healthy adults. Psychosomatic Medicine 70, A-42.

  • LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain. New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, G. P., Loring, D. W., Meader, K. J., & Brooks, B. B. (1990). Hemispheric specialization for emotional expression: A re-examination of results from intracarotid administration of sodium amobarbital. Brain and Cognition, 12, 267–280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levesque, J., Eugene, F., Joanette, Y., Paquette, V., Mensour, B., Beaudoin, G., et al. (2003). Neural circuitry underlying voluntary suppression of sadness. Biological Psychiatry, 53, 502–510.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lupica, C. R., Riegel, A. C., & Hoffman, A. F. (2004). Marijuana and cannabinoid regulation of brain reward circuits. British Journal of Pharmacology, 143(2), 227–234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lykken, D., & Tellegen, A. (1996). Happiness is a stochastic phenomenon. Psychological Science, 7, 186–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005a). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803–855.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005b). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9, 111–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, S. C., Paulus, M. P., Simmons, A. N., Nelesen, R. A., & Dimsdale, J. E. (2004). Functional subdivisions within anterior cingulate cortex and their relationship to autonomic nervous system function. NeuroImage, 22, 1151–1156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melzig, C. A., Weike, A. I., Hamm, A. O., & Thayer, J. F. (2009). Individual differences in fear-potentiated startle as a function of resting heart rate variability: Implications for panic disorder. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 71, 109–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merzenich, M. M. (2005). Change minds for the better. The Journal on Active Aging, 22–28.

  • Murphy, F. C., Nimmo-Smith, I., & Lawrence, A. D. (2003). Functional neuroanatomy of emotions: A meta-analysis. Cognitive and Affective Behavioural Neurosciences, 3, 207–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nes, R. B., Roysamb, E., Tambs, K., Harris, J. R., & Reichborn-Kjennerud, T. (2006). Subjective well-being: Genetic and environmental contributions to stability and change. Psychological Medicine, 36, 1033–1042.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nesse, R. M. (2004). Natural selection and the elusiveness of happiness. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 359, 1333–1347.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newberg, A. B., Wintering, N., Waldman, M. R., Amen, D., Khalsa, D. S., & Alavi, A. (2010). Cerebral blood flow differences between long-term meditators and non-mediators. Consciousness and Cognition, 19, 899–905.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ochsner, K. N., & Gross, J. J. (2004). Thinking makes it so: A social cognitive neuroscience approach to emotion regulation. In R. F. Baumeister & K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation: Research, theory, and applications (pp. 229–255). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ochsner, K. N., & Gross, J. J. (2005). The cognitive control of emotion. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9, 242–249.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ochsner, K. N., Ray, R. D., Cooper, J. C., Robertson, E. R., Chopra, S., Gabrieli, J. D. E., et al. (2004). For better or for worse: Neural systems supporting the cognitive down-and up-regulation of negative emotion. NeuroImage, 23, 483–499.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ochsner et al. (2002). Rethinking feelings; an fMRI study of the cognitive regulation of emotion. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14, 1215–1229.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, K. (1990). Towards a process paradigm in psychophysiology. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 9, 209–223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otake, K., Shimai, S., Tanaka-Matsumi, J., Otsui, K., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2006). Happy people become happier through kindness: A counting kindness intervention. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7, 361–375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Panksepp, J. (1998). Affective neuroscience: The foundations of human and animal emotions. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Persinger, M. A., et al. (2010). The electromagnetic induction of mystical and altered states within the laboratory. Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research, 1(7), 808–830.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, C., Park, N., & Seligman, M. E. (2005). Orientations to happiness and life satisfaction: The full life versus the empty life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6, 25–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phan, K. L., Wager, T., Taylor, S. F., & Liberzon, I. (2002). Functional neuroanatomy of emotion: A meta-analysis of emotion activation studies in PET and fMRI. Neuroimage, 16, 331–348.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polk, D. E., Cohen, S., Doyle, W. J., Skoner, D. P., & Kirschbaum, C. (2005). State and trait affect as predictors of salivary cortisol in healthy adults. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 30, 261–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pressman, S. D., & Cohen, S. (2005). Does positive affect influence health? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 925–971.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quirk, G. J., Likhtik, E., Pelletier, J. G., & Paré, D. (2003). Stimulation of medial prefrontal cortex decreases the responsiveness of central amygdala output neurons. Journal of Neuroscience, 23, 8800–8807.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quoidbach, J., Berry, E., Hansenne, M., & Mikolajczak, M. (2010). Positive emotion regulation and well-being: Comparing the impact of eight savoring and dampening strategies. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 368–373.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramachandran, V. S., Hirstein, W. S., Armel, K. C., Tecoma, E., & Iragui, V. (1997). The neural basis of religious experience. Society for Neuroscience, 23, 1316.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed, G. L., & Enright, R. D. (2006). The effects of forgiveness therapy on depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress for women after spousal emotional abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 920–929.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, R. C., & Sztela, B. (1981). Mood change following left hemisphere brain injury. Annals of Neurology, 9, 447–453.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenkranz, M. A., Jackson, D. C., Dalton, K. M., Dolski, I., Ryff, C. D., Singer, B. H., et al. (2003). Affective style and in vivo immune response: Neurobehavioral mechanisms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(19), 11148–11152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig, M. R., & Bennett, E. L. (1996). Psychobiology of plasticity: Effects of training and experience on brain and behavior. Behavioural Brain Research, 78, 57–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roysamb, E., Tambs, K., Reichborn-Kjennerud, T., Neale, M. C., & Harris, J. R. (2003). Happiness and health: Environmental and genetic contributions to the relationship between subjective well-being, perceived health, and somatic illness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 1136–1146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz-Padial, E., Sollers, J. J, I. I. I., Vila, J., & Thayer, J. F. (2003). The rhythm of the heart in the blink of an eye: Emotion-modulated startle magnitude covaries with heart rate variability. Psychophysiology, 40, 306–313.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069–1081.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D., Love, G. D., Urry, H. L., Muller, D., Rosenkranz, M. A., Friedman, E. M., et al. (2006). Psychological well-being and ill-being: Do they have distinct or mirrored biological correlates? Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 75, 85–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. (1998). The contours of positive human health. Psychological Inquiry, 9, 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D., Singer, B. H., & Love, G. D. (2004). Positive health: Connecting well-being with biology. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 359, 1383–1394.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scarmeas, N., & Stern, Y. (2003). Cognitive reserve and lifestyle. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 25, 625–633.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaefer, S. M., Jackson, D. C., Davidson, R. J., Aguirre, G. K., Kimberg, D. Y., & Thompson-Schill, S. L. (2002). Modulation of amygdalar activity by the conscious regulation of negative emotion. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14, 913–921.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. E. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. New York: Free Press.

  • Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N. P., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410–421.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). How to increase and sustain positive emotion: The effect of expressing gratitude and visualizing best possible selves. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 73–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shook, N. J., Pena, P., Fazio, R. H., Sollers, J. J., & Thayer, J. F. (2007). Friend or foe: Heart rate variability and the negativity bias in learning about novel objects. Psychophysiology, 44, S39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65, 467–487.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smit, D. J. A., Posthuma, D., Boomsma, D. I., & de Geus, E. J. C. (2005). Heritability of background EEG across the power spectrum. Psychophysiology, 42, 691–697.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, K. S., & Berridge, K. C. (2005). The ventral pallidum and hedonic reward: Neurochemical maps of sucrose “liking” and food intake. Journal of Neuroscience, 25, 8637–8649.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stansbury, K., & Gunnar, M. R. (1994). Adrenocortical activity and emotion regulation. In N. A. Fox (Ed.) The development of emotion regulation: Biological and behavioural considerations. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59(2–3, Serial No. 240), 108–134.

  • Starkstein, S. E., Robinson, R. C., & Price, T. R. (1987). Comparison of cortical and subcortical lesions in the production of poststroke mood disorders. Brain, 110, 1045–1059.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, J., & Vezina, P. (1988). A comparison of the effects of intra-accumbens injections of amphetamine and morphine on reinstatement of heroin intravenous self-administration behaviour. Brain Research, 457, 287–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, S. K., & Davidson, R. J. (1997). Prefrontal brain asymmetry: A biological substrate of the behavioral approach and inhibition systems. Psychological Science, 8, 204–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tang, Y. Y., Lu, Q., Geng, X., Stein, E. A., Yang, Y., & Posner, M. I. (2010). Short-term meditation induces white matter changes in the anterior cingulate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107, 15649–15652.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tang, Y. Y., Ma, Y., Fan, Y., Feng, H., Wang, J., Feng, S., et al. (2009). Central and autonomic nervous system interaction is altered by short-term meditation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106, 8865–8870.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tellegen, A., Lykken, D. T., Bouchard, T. J., Wilcox, K., Segal, N. L., & Rich, S. (1988). Personality similarity in twins reared apart and together. Journal of Perosnality and Social Psychology, 54, 1031–1039.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thayer, J. F., Friedman, B. H., Borkovec, T. D., Johnsen, B. H., & Molina, S. (2000). Phasic heart period to cued threat and non-threat stimuli in generalized anxiety disorder. Psychophysiology, 37(3), 361–368.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thayer, J. F., & Lane, R. D. (2000). A model of neurovisceral integration in emotion regulation and dysregulation. Journal of Affective Disorders, 61, 201–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thayer, J. F., & Lane, R. D. (2009). Claude Bernard and the heart-brain connection: Further elaboration of a model of neurovisceral integration. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 33, 81–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, R. A. (1994). Emotion regulation: A theme in search of definition. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59, 25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomarken, A. J., Davidson, R. J., Wheeler, R. E., & Doss, R. C. (1992). Individual differences in anterior brain asymmetry and fundamental dimensions of emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 676–687.

    Google Scholar 

  • Urry, H. L., Nitschke, J. B., Dolski, I., Jackson, D. C., Dalton, K. M., Mueller, C. J., et al. (2004). Making a life worth living: Neural correlates of well-being. Psychological Science, 15, 367–372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Urry, H. L., van Reekum, C. M., Johnstone, T., Kalin, N. H., Thurow, M. E., et al. (2006). Amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex are inversely coupled during regulation of negative affect and predict the diurnal pattern of cortisol secretion among older adults. The Journal of Neuroscience, 26, 4415–4425.

    Google Scholar 

  • Urry, H. L., vanReekum, C. M., Johnstone, T., & Davidson, R. J. (2009). Individual differences in some (but not all) medial prefrontal regions reflect cognitive demand while regulating unpleasant emotion. NeuroImage, 47, 852–863.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Reekum, C. M., Urry, H. L., Johnstone, T., Thurow, M. E., Frye, C. J., Jackson, C. A., et al. (2007). Individual differences in amygdale and ventromedial prefrontal cortex activity are associated with evaluation speed and psychological well-being. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 237–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wachtel, S. R., Ortengren, A., & deWit, H. (2002). The effects of acute haloperidol or risperidone on subjective responses to methamphetamine in healthy volunteers. Drug Alcohol Dependence, 68, 23–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wager, T. D., Phan, K. L., Liberzon, I., & Taylor, S. (2003). Valence, gender, and lateralization of functional brain anatomy in emotion: A meta-analysis of findings from neuroimaging. NeuroImage, 19, 513–531.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waterman, A. S. (2008). Reconsidering happiness: A eudaimonist’s perspective. The Journal Positive Psychology, 3, 234–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, R. E., Davidson, R. J., & Tomarken, A. J. (1993). Frontal brain asymmetry and emotional reactivity: A biological substrate of affective style. Psychophysiology, 30, 82–89.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    N. S. Rickard

  2. Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    D. A. Vella-Brodrick

Authors
  1. N. S. Rickard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. D. A. Vella-Brodrick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to N. S. Rickard.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rickard, N.S., Vella-Brodrick, D.A. Changes in Well-Being: Complementing a Psychosocial Approach with Neurobiological Insights. Soc Indic Res 117, 437–457 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0353-4

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0353-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation