op·ti·mism /ˈäptəˌmizəm/
noun

1. Hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something.

2. Philosophy: The doctrine, especially as set forth by Leibniz, that this world is the best of all possible worlds.

2.1. The belief that good must ultimately prevail over evil in the universe.

~ Oxford English Dictionary

Improving your optimistic outlook on life may be the key to reduced anxiety. Anxiety can be overwhelming. I know that when I feel anxious, it is difficult to be optimistic, but through conscious effort, practicing techniques I have picked up over the years, I can influence my optimism and manage my anxiety.  Sounds simple, right? Rather than letting anxiety overwhelm you, use positive thoughts to overwhelm and run off the anxiety.

Optimism refers to positive expectations for the future.

Now, an area of the brain, part of the prefrontal cortex, is identified as important for the association between optimism and anxiety. The prefrontal cortex can be divided into subregions, one of which is the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). The OFC rests above the eye sockets and is relatively well protected from injury. This is in contrast to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which lies beneath the front part of your skull and is responsible for planning, logical reasoning and other related tasks. The OFC is critical for emotional regulation and personality, and damage to OFC results in a range of emotional, social and personality changes.

A study by Dolcos et al (2015) at the University of Illinois, appearing in Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, reports thicker gray matter in the left OFC is associated with greater trait optimism, and that this optimism can protect against anxiety symptoms. What is the functional significance of this greater thickness? How it mediates optimism and anxiety is unclear. As with most things, when speaking of the brain, more doesn’t necessarily mean better, but in this case more gray matter is beneficial. Is there hope for those who don’t have an optimistic outlook, and have relatively thinner left OFC gray matter? This may be addressed by future studies. We know the brain is plastic, and each time we have a new experience or learn something new changes take place, in the form of new growth or shrinkage, new connections made or old connections weakened.

The left OFC has connections with the amygdala, a structure important for the perception of emotionally provocative information, especially novel and threatening stimuli. Stimulation of the amygdala leads to fear and anxiety behaviors in animals. What is especially interesting is activation of the left OFC leads to suppression of amygdala activation; this may be relevant to the associations found by Dolcos and colleagues. Perhaps those with more gray matter volume in the this region are better able to regulate their anxiety through this interaction between the OFC and the amygdala, and the increased optimism can be seen as the driving force behind this.

“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true.”

~ James Branch Cabell

Increasing your optimism has many potential benefits. Trait anxiety and optimism are both correlated with quality of life in the expected directions, with lower anxiety and higher optimism associated with a better quality of life. Optimism is good for your heart; it helps cardiac patients heal after surgery, and those who are optimistic tend to have lower blood pressure than those who are pessimists. Optimism is also associated with better overall health and survival rates. Optimism is a universal phenomenon, and is associated with better wellbeing across a number of cultures.

Dolcos S, Hu Y, Iordan AD, Moore M, Dolcos F. Optimism and the brain: trait
optimism mediates the protective role of the orbitofrontal cortex gray matter
volume against anxiety. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2015 Sep 14. pii: nsv106. [Epub
ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 26371336.