Achieve more life satisfaction in old age

Regret about missed opportunities reduces life satisfaction in old age

04/20/2012

Scientists at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) have examined the influence of emotional experiences on health and well-being in old age. Regret and anger over missed opportunities could therefore have a significant negative impact on life satisfaction in old age.

Researchers from the Institute of Systemic Neuroscience at UKE found that there is an essential link between regretting missed opportunities and life satisfaction in old age. „Our findings suggest that regret reflects a critical factor in the resilience of mental health in old age“, Stefanie Brassen and colleagues from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf report in the journal „Science“.

Activity of the brain analyzed for missed opportunities
According to the scientists explain different „Lifespan Theories Successful aging with an adaptive management of emotional experiences such as regret.“ So far, however, it was not known which neurobiological mechanisms underlie this observation, Stefanie Brassen and colleagues describe the cause of their current investigations. The researchers have analyzed the handling of regrettable situations that can not be undone in a test set-up in which the study participants completed several rounds of gambling. The subjects were composed of emotionally healthy young and elderly persons as well as patients with age depression. The higher the risk appetite in the game, the higher the potential profit. However, the increased risk behavior was accompanied by an increased probability of losing money. After each win, the players were told what additional profit they could have made if they had only risked more. While the subjects were playing, the UKE researchers controlled activity changes in the subjects' brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Brain response to missed opportunities similar to actual loss
Functional magnetic resonance imaging enabled researchers to gain insights into the subjects' different neurobiological responses to missed opportunities. Thus, the young study participants and the older subjects with depression showed a similar neuronal reaction to the missed profit opportunities as in the case of an actual loss. Although they had actually won, the neural reward system in the ventral striatum was barely active, report Stefanie Brassen and colleagues. The regret and anger over the missed profit opportunities outweighed. In the healthy older volunteers, however, showed after each gain a significant increase in activity in the reward system of the brain, even if they were told how much more they could actually win. A signal drop only occurred in the event of an actual loss.

The art of being satisfied with what one has
According to the researchers of the UKE, their findings support the thesis that in regrettable irreversible situations „a reduced emotional commitment in these situations is a potentially protective strategy for ensuring well-being in old age“ represents. „A relaxed approach to opportunities missed in the course of one's life plays a crucial role in the life satisfaction of old age“, emphasized Stefanie Brassen and colleagues in her article „Do not look back in anger“. The frontal brain makes a significant contribution to processing the different aspects of aging. Increased activity in certain areas (explicitly the anterior cingulum) has been associated with the ability to focus more on the positive aspects of aging. This area of ​​the brain was also activated in the current study in the healthy elderly subjects as soon as they learned of the missed chances of winning. Apparently, this is the neurological key to repressing regret and focusing on the positive aspects of life. (Fp)

Read about:
Digressive thoughts make you unhappy
Stay healthy until old age
Medial age pictures distort view of the age