Happiness

We all experience a medley of emotions in our day to day life, ranging from anger to happiness and including everything in between. Happiness, although a fairly straightforward emotion, is extremely complicated and intricate. It can be caused by a variety of things, such as personal achievements, love or philanthropy. Furthermore, it isn’t defined by a singular event or moment, but rather a combination of things in your life and how satisfied or fulfilled they make you feel as a whole. Genes, behavior, environment and a multitude of other factors also play into someone’s happiness. Looking deeper, though, there is a science behind how happiness works and is processed in the brain.

The brain contains many neurons; signals are sent from neuron to neuron through a process called neurotransmission, which is essentially how the brain is able to communicate its intended response. A stimuli, either internal or external, triggers the brain to want to send out neurotransmitters, which are signaling molecules which cause certain responses in the brain based on the situation. These neurotransmitters, once released, can only bind to receptors that were made specifically for that molecule. Once they bind together, an action is triggered in the target cells.

There are many neurotransmitters that have many different functions and purposes. A few examples of neurotransmitters associated with increased happiness are serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin, with the former even being called by some scientists “the happy chemical”. They trigger very specific responses once bound to their counterpart receptors, such as better mood and feelings of relaxation and content.

All in all, happiness is a complicated emotion, with many underlying biological and psychological processes, some of which may have yet to be discovered.