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bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.03.06.710111

Causal Evidence for the Neural Underpinnings of Subjective Happiness

Spica, D.·Beffara, B.·Cohen-Zimerman, S.·Vushaj, A.·Cristofori, I.·Grafman, J.
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Abstract

Happiness is a central but poorly localized dimension of human experience, and causal evidence linking discrete brain regions to subjective happiness is scarce. We tested whether focal brain damage modulates self-reported happiness by measuring Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) scores in 131 male veterans with penetrating traumatic brain injury (pTBI) and 33 matched healthy controls (HC), and by applying voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping within anatomically pre-defined brain regions. Overall, individuals with pTBI reported higher SHS scores than HC. VLSM identified two lesion clusters associated with increased happiness after injury: a small cluster in the right anterior cingulate cortex and a larger cluster in the right orbitofrontal cortex. These results provide causal evidence that right frontal circuitry--notably the ACC and OFC--modulates subjective happiness, challenging current accounts of motivational and emotional processing and pointing to targeted neural substrates for understanding and potentially modulating human happiness.

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Spica, D., Beffara, B., Cohen-Zimerman, S., Vushaj, A., Cristofori, I., Grafman, J.. 2026-03-10. Causal Evidence for the Neural Underpinnings of Subjective Happiness. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.06.710111

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