E 'in a' handful 'of neurons in the secret of optimism. U.S. researchers have discovered, in fact, that some neurons - in time to make a choice - they see the glass half full, even if maybe things are not true. In a study conducted on mice and published in 'Nature Neuroscience', the team of Matthew Roesch University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore (USA) has placed the rats in front of a choice of three shares, which entitled him to three different awards, one of which definitely better than the other two. Well, the neurons that predicted the expected value of the prizes, they responded as if the animal had chosen the way to reward the best possible no matter what he did in reality. To find out, the researchers monitored the activity of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area, a part of the brain involved in the 'premium-rewards system'. So the team found that neurons 'switch on' to the maximum when the mouse found that I could get a prize more 'juicy', even when the end - and in about 30% of cases - the animal opted for the worst prize .
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