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Brain scan now reveal that living a life without regrets may be one key to aging well .
As irritating as regret can be , scientists think it can help us make better option in the future when we are new . However , as 2nd chances decrease as we get previous , the benefit of excogitate over what might have been also reject with age .
There’s no time to look back and worry about what might have been …
To see ifletting go of regretsmight actually be yoke with aroused wellness as one gets older , researchers analyze encephalon scans of three chemical group of people — new adult average 25 years old , as well asdepressed sometime adultsand healthy sr. adult , both averaging 65 age previous . These volunteers played a computer biz where they afford a series of box that , at random , held either money or a cartoon picture of a Satan that ended the exercise and caused the musician to lose all the money they had win up to that compass point . After opening each box , the Volunteer could settle whether to stop or move to the next one . After each round ended , all the boxes opened , revealing how far players could have safely continued .
When the immature grownup and depress older adults discovered they had missed chances to compile more money , they took more risks in play along rounds , even though the random nature of the game meant there was no grounds to take previous rounds into account . However , healthy quondam adults did not really change their behaviour , just as bode . [ 7 thought That Are risky For You ]
" give way that unsuccessfully aged people demonstrated a more ' youthlike ' behavior , it seems to be essential for our emotional well - being to adapt to changing life - demands when we are onetime — that is , to not look back in anger and to focus on the positive , " researcher Stefanie Brassen , a neuroscientist at University Medical Center Hamburg - Eppendorf in Germany , told LiveScience .
In gain , the Einstein scans revealed that activity in a learning ability part calledthe ventral striatum , which is linked with feeling rue and also addiction , and in the anterior cingulate cortex , which is involve in regulating emotion , was similar between the vernal adult and the down in the mouth old grownup . In contrast , the healthy older adults showed dissimilar patterns in brain activity that suggested they see less ruefulness and regulated their emotions more effectively .
" I did my Ph.D. in the field of Alzheimer ’s dementedness and previous - spirit slump . When studying these disease , you always need sizable older groups for compare , " Brassen said . " And I was always quite fascinated by the fact that most of these respectable older grownup demonstrated sucha positive view on lifeand were so relaxed regarding their past , potentially too bad , demeanor . "
The research worker intimate that level-headed older grownup may employ helpful mental strategy to obviate ruefulness , such as reminding themselves that the results of the game were up to chance . In demarcation , depressed older adult may blame themselves for the outcome . If so , it might be possible to train mass to expend these mental strategies to help keep up their emotional health in honest-to-god age .
" We know from cognitive - behavioral therapy study that such ability can be trained behaviorally , which in bend change the neural architecture of the head , " Brassen said . " Thus , our finding open up up new perspectives not only for thetreatment of recent - life depression , but also for prevention strategies to maintain emotional health when we age . "
Brassen added that it would be interesting to see if there was a specific changeover point in age where letting go of regrets becomes more good than holding onto them . Such enquiry would need to psychoanalyse a large spectrum of masses of younger to sure-enough ages .
" It would also be very interesting to hump whether there are people who have a good chance to successfully accommodate to age . It is likely thatpersonality traits(for instance , neurotic versus emotionally stable ) , response styles ( rumination versus misdirection ) and lifelong experiences with emotional demand flirt a part , " Brassen said in an electronic mail to LiveScience .
The scientist detailed their findings online April 19 in the journal Science .
