Influence of subjective happiness on the prefrontal brain activity: an fNIRS study

Focusing on the relationship between subjective happiness (SH) and emotional changes, we examined influences of SH on emotion-related prefrontal activity using multichannel NIRS. The International Affective Picture System (IAPS) was used to evoke emotional changes. Subjects were a total of 18 right-handed healthy students. Frequency of picture-induced increases in oxygenated haemoglobin (oxy-Hb) was evaluated. Subjects with a high SH score had a higher frequency of increased oxy-Hb in the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) while viewing pleasant pictures, whereas they showed a lower frequency in the right PFC while viewing unpleasant pictures. It is well known that the left PFC and right PFC are engaged in different ways in the emotional processes. Although further investigations are required, the present results indicate that the SH level influences the right-left differences in emotion-related prefrontal activity.