As people grow older, they often see the world in a more positive way.
For example, they may look at a neutral or even slightly upset face and believe that the person is happy.
This is called a “positivity bias.” For a long time, scientists believed this was a helpful change.
They thought it was the brain’s way of protecting mental health in old age. If people focused more on positive emotions, they might feel happier and less stressed.
But now, a new study suggests something different. Instead of being a healthy coping tool, this “too positive” view might be an early warning sign of something more serious—like problems with memory, thinking, and brain function.
The research was done by scientists from Tel Aviv University and the University of Cambridge and was recently published in the journal JNeurosci.
To better understand what this positivity bias means, the researchers studied 665 people. Each person was asked to look at pictures of faces and decide what emotion the person in the photo was feeling.
Some faces were happy, others were sad, angry, or showed no strong emotion. The older participants were more likely to say that the faces were happy—even when the expressions were neutral or negative.
The scientists then tested the participants’ thinking skills using standard memory and problem-solving tests. They found that people who had a strong positivity bias—those who often saw emotions as more positive than they were—tended to do worse on the thinking tests.
This suggests that seeing the world through “rose-colored glasses” might not always be a good thing. In fact, it could mean that the brain is not working as well as it used to.
The researchers also looked at the structure of the brain using scans. They found changes in brain areas that help people understand emotions and make social decisions. These changes could be a reason why older people show this positivity bias. Parts of the brain were either shrinking or not working together as well as they should.
Interestingly, this bias was not linked to signs of depression. This means that it’s probably not just a way for people to feel better emotionally. Instead, it might be a sign that something in the brain is changing—possibly related to the early stages of diseases like dementia.
One of the lead researchers, Dr. Noham Wolpe, said that the team is now studying people who are starting to show early signs of memory problems. They are especially interested in people who also seem less interested or motivated in life—a condition called apathy. Apathy is often seen early in people who later develop dementia.
In summary, while it might seem like a good thing to view the world more positively, this study shows that older adults who do so to an extreme may be showing early signs of cognitive decline.
Changes in how the brain sees and reacts to emotions could be an important early clue in spotting memory and thinking problems. More research is needed, but these findings could one day help doctors catch brain decline sooner and offer support earlier.
If you care about mental health, please read studies about Middle-aged women with no kids may have this mental issue and findings of scientists find a cause of mental illnesses induced by childhood abuse.
For more about mental health, please read studies about Frequent painkiller use linked to mental health risks in these people and findings of Common depression drugs may offer new treatment for bipolar disorder.
The study is published in JNeurosci.
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