SynthesisCognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience2019
The neural correlates of well-being: A systematic review of the human neuroimaging and neuropsychological literature.
Synthesis in Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Human neural correlates of emotional well-being (EWB): a preliminary systematic review and meta-analysis of MRI studies based on a recent consensus definition.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Pooled it
- The evaluation of goal-directed activities to promote well-being and health in heart failure: EUROIA scale.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2024Trial
- Causal relationships between somatic movement, brain structures, and mental well-being: A multi-stage Mendelian randomization study.Psychological medicine · 2026Article
- A comparison of single-domain and multidomain executive functions cognitive training for enhancing cognition and well-being in older adults.Psychological research · 2026Article
- Mental distress and inflammation in bladder cancer: The nerve makes things less vague.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Characterising mental wellbeing and associations with subcortical grey matter volume at short intervals in early adolescence.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2025Article
- Individual differences in wellbeing are supported by separable sets of co-active self- and visual-attention-related brain networks.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Frontocortical activity and emotional experience in the context of daily life events.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2025Article
- The Potential of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in Improving Quality of Life in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Review and Discussion of Mechanisms of Action.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Mental gravity as a translational framework for mental health promotion.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Article
- Decoding influences of indoor temperature and light on neural activity: entropy analysis of electroencephalographic signals.Pflugers Archiv : European journal of physiology · 2024Article
- Self-selected versus imposed running intensity and the acute effects on mood, cognition, and (a)periodic brain activity.Cognitive neurodynamics · 2024Article
- Understanding Wellbeing Profiles According to White Matter Structural Connectivity Sub-types in Early Adolescents: The First Hundred Brains Cohort from the Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2024Article
- Assessment of quality of life and wellbeing in mouse preclinical research - A scoping review.Neuroscience applied · 2024Review
- Interoceptive brain network mechanisms of mindfulness-based training in healthy adolescents.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Methods for assessing change in brain plasticity at night and psychological resilience during daytime between repeated long-duration space missions.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Disentangling the personality pathways to well-being.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- The neural correlates of perceived social support and its relationship to psychological well-being.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2023Article
- Good personality and social well-being: The roles of orientation to happiness.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Appropriate Circadian-Circasemidian Coupling Protects Blood Pressure from Morning Surge and Promotes Human Resilience and Wellbeing.Clinical interventions in aging · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
Abstract
What it means to be well and to achieve well-being is fundamental to the human condition. Scholars of many disciplines have attempted to define well-being and to investigate the behavioral and neural correlates of well-being. Despite many decades of inquiry into well-being, much remains unknown. The study of well-being has evolved over time, shifting in focus and methodology. Many recent investigations into well-being have taken a neuroscientific approach to try to bolster understanding of this complex construct. A growing body of literature has directly examined the association between well-being and the brain. The current review synthesizes the extant literature regarding the neural correlates of trait-like well-being (i.e., the propensity to live according to one's true nature). Although reported associations between well-being and the brain varied, some notable patterns were evidenced in the literature. In particular, the strongest and most consistent association emerged between well-being and the anterior cingulate cortex. In addition, patterns of association between well-being and the orbitofrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, superior temporal gyrus, and thalamus emerged. These regions largely comprise the salience and default mode networks, suggesting a possible relationship between well-being and brain networks involved in the integration of relevant and significant stimuli. Various methodological concerns are addressed and recommendations for future research are discussed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.