Por qué tu cerebro es malo prediciendo la felicidad | David Zald | TEDxNashville Salon

Esta charla de TEDxNashville Salon, a cargo del neurocientífico David Zald, analiza por qué las personas suelen equivocarse al predecir qué las hará felices. Explica por qué el placer se desvanece, por qué se subestiman las experiencias que requieren esfuerzo y por qué empezar una actividad puede resultar más difícil que la actividad en sí. La charla también aborda la neurociencia del flujo, un estado de absorción total en el que la preocupación y la autoconsciencia se disipan. Según Zald, el compromiso con sentido puede aportar una felicidad más duradera que el placer o el logro por sí solos.

• Por qué el placer se desvanece y la felicidad es difícil de predecir
• Por qué se subestiman las actividades que requieren esfuerzo
• La neurociencia del flujo

Why are we so bad at predicting what will make us happy? In this TEDxNashville talk, Zald explores why pleasure fades, why we underestimate experiences that require effort, and why getting started can be harder than the activity itself. He also examines the neuroscience of **flow**—the state of complete absorption in which worry and self-consciousness fade—and why meaningful engagement may bring more lasting happiness than pleasure or achievement. What if our brains weren't designed to keep us happy, but to keep us learning, exploring, and growing? Perhaps happiness isn't the destination. Perhaps it's what happens when we stop chasing it and become fully engaged in living. David Zald uses functional neuroimaging and neuropsychological techniques to examine and map the cognitive, affective and sensory functions of the orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala and the mesolimbic dopamine system. This work particularly focuses on understanding the manner in which individual differences in the functioning of these systems contributes to personality and risk for psychopathology. In recent years this work has examined the interaction of emotion and attention, and the substrates of economic decision making, particularly as it relates to motivation, the willingness to expend effort and reward processing, both in healthy individuals and people with certain forms of psychopathology. A final area of focus is the examination of the neural substrates of dimensions of psychopathology, specifically factors of psychopathology that cross the boundaries of different psychiatric disorders. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx