Yes! Send me the FREE digital editions of Spa Business and Spa Business insider magazines and the FREE weekly Spa Business and Spa Business insider ezines and breaking news alerts!
Scientists hope their findings will have larger implications for happiness training / EpicStockMedia/shutterstock.com
Scouring self-help books, exercising, taking time-out, going to spas… we go out of our way to make ourselves happy. But do we really know what happiness is?
Scientists at Kyoto University, Japan, think they’ve found the answer by using MRI to narrow in on the neural structures behind subjective happiness. They hope their findings will have larger implications for happiness training.
Grey mass matter Associate professor Wataru Sato and his team scanned the brains of 51 people using MRI. Participants then took a survey asking how happy they are generally, how intensely they feel emotions and how satisfied they are with their lives.
Their analysis, published in Scientific Reports* in November, revealed that those who had a higher happiness score had more grey matter mass in the precuneus. The precuneus is a region in the medial parietal lobe that becomes active during states of consciousness – such as when people are self-reflecting or daydreaming. There was about a 15 per cent difference in size between the smallest and largest precuneus in the participants.
Sato’s findings complements a study by Harvard Medical School and the University of Chinese Medicine which shows that less activity in the precuneus may be associated to depression.
Tapping into happiness “Over history, many eminent scholars like Aristotle have contemplated what happiness is,” says Sato. “I’m very happy that we now know more about what it means to be happy.”
This is one of the first studies to use MRI to investigate happiness and the Sato believe that this paves the way for future scientists to clinically measure what things make people happier.
He’s also hopes his work may be useful in creating interventions to make people happier, especially if combined with meditation. Sato says: “Several studies show that meditation increases grey matter mass in the precuneus. This new insight on where happiness happens in the brain will be useful for developing happiness programmes based on scientific research.”
* Sato et al. The structural neural substrate of subjective happiness. Scientific Reports. November 2015.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Interview: Kenneth Ryan
Marriott’s global head of spa talks exclusively to Katie Barnes about the new ‘game-changing’ Ritz-Carlton Spa brand and market domination
Promotional feature: Steve Kass Consulting
Steve Kass, founder and former CEO of American Leisure, has launched a new business, Steve Kass Consulting. The global leader explains his goals as an innovative concept and design creator
Research: Work it out
Ophelia Yeung gives a sneak preview of a new study on workplace wellness that debuts later this month
Fitness: Competitive edge
Could a touch of rivalry help spas to engage more people in fitness? Niamh Madigan finds out
Promotional feature: Ojmar
A growing number of spa operators across the UK are working with Ojmar to upgrade their traditional keyed locking systems to electronic solutions
In the fast-paced world of fitness and wellness, where high-intensity workouts push us to
our limits and the sweat pours, the importance of efficient recovery cannot be overstated. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Beautylizer
Beautylizer brings
its deep aesthetic expertise and
strong R&D focus to holistic wellness,
offeri [more...]
Capsix
Founded in 2016 by Carole Eyssautier, PhD in AI, François Eyssautier, robotics engineer, and Stéphan [more...]
Scientists hope their findings will have larger implications for happiness training / EpicStockMedia/shutterstock.com
Scouring self-help books, exercising, taking time-out, going to spas… we go out of our way to make ourselves happy. But do we really know what happiness is?
Scientists at Kyoto University, Japan, think they’ve found the answer by using MRI to narrow in on the neural structures behind subjective happiness. They hope their findings will have larger implications for happiness training.
Grey mass matter Associate professor Wataru Sato and his team scanned the brains of 51 people using MRI. Participants then took a survey asking how happy they are generally, how intensely they feel emotions and how satisfied they are with their lives.
Their analysis, published in Scientific Reports* in November, revealed that those who had a higher happiness score had more grey matter mass in the precuneus. The precuneus is a region in the medial parietal lobe that becomes active during states of consciousness – such as when people are self-reflecting or daydreaming. There was about a 15 per cent difference in size between the smallest and largest precuneus in the participants.
Sato’s findings complements a study by Harvard Medical School and the University of Chinese Medicine which shows that less activity in the precuneus may be associated to depression.
Tapping into happiness “Over history, many eminent scholars like Aristotle have contemplated what happiness is,” says Sato. “I’m very happy that we now know more about what it means to be happy.”
This is one of the first studies to use MRI to investigate happiness and the Sato believe that this paves the way for future scientists to clinically measure what things make people happier.
He’s also hopes his work may be useful in creating interventions to make people happier, especially if combined with meditation. Sato says: “Several studies show that meditation increases grey matter mass in the precuneus. This new insight on where happiness happens in the brain will be useful for developing happiness programmes based on scientific research.”
* Sato et al. The structural neural substrate of subjective happiness. Scientific Reports. November 2015.
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Interview: Kenneth Ryan
Marriott’s global head of spa talks exclusively to Katie Barnes about the new ‘game-changing’ Ritz-Carlton Spa brand and market domination
Promotional feature: Steve Kass Consulting
Steve Kass, founder and former CEO of American Leisure, has launched a new business, Steve Kass Consulting. The global leader explains his goals as an innovative concept and design creator
Research: Work it out
Ophelia Yeung gives a sneak preview of a new study on workplace wellness that debuts later this month
Fitness: Competitive edge
Could a touch of rivalry help spas to engage more people in fitness? Niamh Madigan finds out
Promotional feature: Ojmar
A growing number of spa operators across the UK are working with Ojmar to upgrade their traditional keyed locking systems to electronic solutions
A recent survey by the UK Spa Association (UKSA) into the industry’s approach to cancer care
has revealed that almost half of participating respondents (46 per cent) are unaware that
cancer is a disability and guests with a cancer diagnosis must be given
Mexican operator, Solmar Hotels and Resorts, is hosting a series of events in celebration of
Global Wellness Day, including a Temazcal ceremony at its Playa Grande Resort and Spa in Los
Cabos.
Mandarin Oriental has announced a standalone residence brand, Mansions, which will debut at
Emirates Palace, Mandarin Oriental Mansions, Abu Dhabi, in 2029.
Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai in Hoi An, Vietnam, has put together a Global Wellness Day
(GWD) agenda with activations rooted in nature and shaped by four pillars of Joy – in
alignment with the day’s theme #JoyMagenta.
The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the 2026 event in
Phuket, Thailand, later this year with the theme: The Science, Art and Soul of Wellness.
Auko, an all-inclusive development, is opening in Phong Nha in Vietnam in Q3 2026, with a
series of 30 tented eco-lodges and wellness hospitality operations by Lumina Wellbeing.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort, has opened a 2,800sq m spa called The Sanctuary,
with the design and concept inspired by the Native American people that populated Florida’s
Southwest coast – the Calusa.
Swire Hotels’ luxury hospitality brand Upper House has revealed it will roll out its two-day
House of Healing retreats at its three hotels in Hong Kong, Chengdu and Shanghai.
In the fast-paced world of fitness and wellness, where high-intensity workouts push us to
our limits and the sweat pours, the importance of efficient recovery cannot be overstated. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Beautylizer Beautylizer brings
its deep aesthetic expertise and
strong R&D focus to holistic wellness,
offeri [more...]
