Optimists share similar brain patterns - but what about pessimists?

When thinking about the future, optimists – people who generally expect positive outcomes – may actually share more than just hope.

According to a new study from Kobe University, optimists’ brains behave in notably similar ways. Pessimists – those who generally expect negative outcomes or focus on worst-case scenarios – show much more variation in brain activity.

This difference may explain why optimists are often seen as more sociable and better connected.

Is there a reason for the similarities?

“Recent studies showed that the brains of people who occupy central social positions react to stimuli in similar ways,” said psychologist Yanagisawa Kuniaki, from Kobe University, who led the research.

“So it may be that people who share a similar attitude towards the future, too, truly envision it similarly in their brains and that this makes it easier for them to understand each other’s perspectives.”

The team’s two-part study used advanced techniques to measure how individuals mentally simulate future events.

They combined representational similarity analysis and multidimensional scaling to visualize brain patterns. Optimism levels were assessed through standard personality tests.

Merging brain scans and psychology

The study joins social psychology with cognitive neuroscience. Yanagisawa built a team to investigate what he called a neglected question.

“The main reason why this question has remained untouched until now is that it exists in a gap between social psychology and neuroscience,” he said. “However, the intersection of these two fields enabled us to open this black box.”

Participants were asked to imagine future scenarios while undergoing fMRI scans. These scenarios included positive, neutral, negative, and death-related events. Scenarios were shown with either a self or partner perspective.

This broad design helped reveal how differently brains reacted, depending on the type of future imagined and the emotional tone.

Brain activity of optimists

The team observed something striking: optimists showed similar patterns of brain activity, especially in a region called the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC).

This region is linked to self-reflection and imagining the future. Pessimists, in contrast, displayed highly varied brain responses.

These observations matched the Anna Karenina model. Only pairs of highly optimistic individuals showed high neural similarity when imagining the future.

Across two separate studies, higher optimism scores consistently linked with greater closeness in brain activity. Visual models showed that optimists clustered together in a shared brain-space, while pessimists scattered widely.

Optimists are literally thinking alike

“What was most dramatic about this study is that the abstract notion of ‘thinking alike’ was literally made visible in the form of patterns of brain activity,” Yanagisawa noted.

But this similarity wasn’t only about imagining any future. Optimists distinctly separated good from bad futures in their minds.

Using a method called INDSCAL, the team found that optimists mentally pulled positive events away from negative ones more sharply than pessimists did.

Optimists’ brains buffer negative futures

This suggests that more optimistic people perceive a clear distinction between good and bad futures in their brains. In other words, optimism does not involve positive reinterpretation of negative events.

“Optimistic individuals typically process negative scenarios in a more abstract and psychologically distant manner, thus mitigating the emotional impact of such scenarios,” Yanagisawa said.

This neural distancing helps keep bad events from hitting too hard. At the same time, optimists picture good futures more vividly and concretely. This double approach could be one reason for their emotional resilience.

Thinking alike builds connection

The MPFC’s role in shaping optimism may also explain its link to social bonds. Previous research found that people in central social positions often have brain responses that echo each other.

This shared processing likely strengthens group understanding. Yanagisawa’s study shows that the same applies to optimism. Optimists may literally “think alike,” making it easier to build trust and connection.

“The everyday feeling of ‘being on the same wavelength’ is not just a metaphor,” Yanagisawa said.

“The brains of optimists may in a very physical sense share a common concept of the future. But this raises new questions. Is this shared mechanism something they are born with or is it woven in later, for example through experience and dialogue?”

Optimism’s neural roots in the brain

Yanagisawa hopes future research will explore whether this shared brain style is learned or innate.

“I believe that elucidating the process by which this shared reality emerges is a step towards a society where people can communicate better,” he said.

By uncovering how optimism shapes brain activity, this work opens new paths to understanding social connection, emotional health, and cognitive style. It turns out that optimism is not just a mindset. It is a shared neural signature.

The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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