Hope circuit: “Every problem has a solution, sooner or later.”

I grew up with this notion. It was my mother’s anthem.

A missed school bus, a broken friendship, unfinished homework, not being selected for the team, a sore throat, a boring holiday, a bad test result, a teacher who misunderstands, a pressurizing day, a tummy ache, a long wait at the dentist, a side effect from medicine, an unfriendly roommate at school camp… are just a few examples. We found a solution, sooner or later.”

My sister and I internalized it.

Now we are 18 and 20, facing big life challenges, some easy and some tough.

We know stress is part of day-to-day life.

We remain optimistic that we will overcome these challenges in due time. Some issues will be resolved, while others might require us to find a different path around them. Every problem has a solution—perhaps one that suits us perfectly, or maybe not. We'll discover the answers as we go along…

-       Anvi, a 19-year-old college student

Maria walked out of her spin class, feeling positive.

The next few weeks are stressful; she has a netball match, a violin test, and an A-level maths exam in the next month. A good performance in the match and a desired grade in maths and music will put her in a good position to apply to her college. It will help her position her confidence in her abilities.

She is optimistic.

She knows that she can do all and do them well. She recalls her successes in life.

This adds an extra bounce in her walk.

A smile, a twinkle in the eyes, joy in the voice. She whispered:

 I CAN DO IT

The above is a real-life example that helps develop a hope circuit: a specific neural pathway.

Life's negative circumstances can lead to learned helplessness, an extreme state of passivity resulting from the perception that one's actions have no influence on outcomes. People who perceive events as uncontrollable show a variety of symptoms that threaten their mental and physical well-being. They experience stress; they often show emotional disruption, demonstrating passivity or aggressiveness; and they can also have difficulty performing cognitive tasks such as problem-solving. They are less likely to change unhealthy patterns of behavior, causing them, for example, to neglect diet, exercise, and medical treatment.

Psychologists Martin Seligman and Steven Maier put forward the concept of the hope circuit. There is a specific brain neural circuit in the medial prefrontal cortex that connects brain regions responsible for optimism and resilience. It acts as the brain's mechanism for overcoming learned helplessness, enabling individuals to rewire their brains for hope, positive thinking, and forward-looking action, even under stress.

Hope and Optimism can be learned. Pessimism and helplessness are default responses to stress, but by practicing optimism, we can “light up” this hope circuit in the medial prefrontal cortex. By viewing events as temporary and specific, rather than personal and permanent, we can train our minds to seek solutions and envision positive futures.

The school of “prospective psychology" examines how imagining, planning, and predicting future events influence current emotion, motivation, and behavior, surpassing traditional psychology's focus on the past. Prospection broadly involves mental representation and evaluation of possible futures, including planning, prediction, and daydreaming.

Prospective psychology views hope as a proactive, goal-oriented process, rooted in willpower and pathways that shape a better future. It is a teachable mindset fostering resilience, mental health, well-being, and success by focusing on future possibilities rather than current symptoms. 

Key Aspects of the Hope Circuit

Multidisciplinary research shows that people with high hope tend to have stronger connections in brain areas responsible for imagining a brighter future. This helps in calming the "fear circuit" in their brain.  

•  Neuroscience Mechanism: It is a neurological pathway in which optimism can be stimulated ("lit up"). The activation of this circuit, in conjunction with elevated dopamine levels, typically entails engaging the prefrontal cortex while concurrently suppressing the brain's fear circuitry. 

• Learned Optimism: The concept is a cornerstone of positive psychology, asserting that optimism is not solely innate but can be cultivated. This perspective enables individuals to perceive negative events as transient, specific, and controllable rather than everlasting.  

We can all live richer and more meaningful lives by intentionally cultivating hope, a proactive, cognitive process rather than a passive emotion. In the next blog in the hope series, Dr. Verma explains various ways of developing hope.