Neuroscience of Hope: Why Superman Isn’t the Only One Who Can Fly
“Once you choose hope, anything is possible” - Christopher Reeve, Superman from 1978-87, who still has an impact on us even after his passing in 2004
Introduction
Hope is one of the most important aspects of any individual’s life. Hope can be defined as the “perceived capability to derive pathways to desired goals, and motivate oneself via agency thinking to use those pathways” (Snyder, 2002). Put more simply, hope is the belief that you can find ways to reach whatever your goals may be, and have the motivation to choose these ways. One of the most important distinctions regarding hope is that it is not a passive feeling but something that can be learned. The essence of hope lies in the individual - it is something that can be cultivated and applied to reach a desired end goal.
When I think of hope, I think of Superman. Sure, he’s this all-powerful alien from a made-up place and definitely resides in the land of make-believe, but he is the person who has taught me and millions of others around the world the meaning and importance of hope. The symbol on his chest, the “S,” doesn’t stand for Superman, but rather is his family’s crest from his home world of Krypton, symbolizing (you guessed it) “hope.” Superman instills in us the idea that everything will be ok if we believe and have hope, both in ourselves and, equally important, others. We can point to many instances that tie Superman to hope, with one of them being the second issue of Superman in 1939 (!), where he saves a former boxing champion from killing himself and helps him restore his career after it was ruined by his old manager who took bribe money. Why would Superman waste his time with something as small as this? Because he has hope. It’s even one of his nicknames: “the Man of Tomorrow. ” In this article, we’ll look at some of the neural correlates of hope, as well as some research that shows its protective effects.
Hope in the Brain
As we said before, hope is more than just a feeling; it’s a belief that, when put into practice, helps a person achieve whatever their goal might be. But what does this look like in the brain? Hope is a difficult concept to empirically measure. It is a complex cognitive process that involves many different feelings and characteristics, such as resilience and motivation. Some researchers have tried to underpin hope in the brain.
One study in 2017 used MRI to look at resting-state connectivity to look at functional brain connectivity. Researchers correlated the intensity of spontaneous brain activity with self-reported feelings of hope, measured using the Dispositional Hope Scale (DHS). Researchers found that higher levels of hope were related to lower spontaneous brain activity in the medial orbital frontal cortex (mOFC) bilaterally. The mOFC, located in the frontal lobe, is typically associated with motivation and decision-making processes (Wang et al., 2017; Dasgupta et al., 2023).
A further study by Wang et al., in 2020 looked at the structural correlates of hope, rather than the connectivity. Using the same DHS assessment, researchers looked at gray matter volumes and how they correlated with measures of reported hope. Results showed a positive correlation between hope and brain volume in the left supplementary motor area (SMA), which is located near the top of the brain at the end of the frontal lobe (close to the middle of your head). The SMA plays an important role in linking the prefrontal cortex (where higher-order thought processes occur, such as planning and motivation) with the motor cortex, which initiates voluntary movement (Cona and Semenza, 2017; Wang et al., 2020; Dasgupta et al., 2023).
Positives of Hope
The benefits of hope are also seen empirically, especially in relation to positive outcomes related to illness and mental disorders. A recent study discovered that thinking about ways to reach goals (termed “hope pathways”) and the belief that you can reach them (termed “hope agency”) were associated with better pain outcomes among lung cancer patients. Specifically, more hope pathways showed a positive effect on daily fatigue, pain, and functional concerns (Steffen et al., 2019). This is vital for our understanding of hope; a mere feeling/belief of hope can decrease pain-related symptoms in patients with cancer. If hope can increase the quality of life of lung cancer patients, imagine how many other outcomes hope can benefit!
Hope has also been shown to have positive effects on neuropsychiatric disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A meta-analysis on hope, optimism, and self-efficacy was conducted in relation to their effects on PTSD. Out of 20 studies that dealt with measuring hope amongst patients, researchers found that hope has a moderate relationship with PTSD. Specifically, greater levels of hope are associated with lower levels of PTSD symptoms. In terms of symptoms of PTSD, hope highlights the ability to create new pathways to deal with obstacles and make progress towards one’s goals, which is especially important to increase resilience following a traumatic event (Gallagher et al., 2020). Outside of PTSD, hope has also been shown to improve mental health and well-being in other conditions, especially with symptoms of depression and anxiety (Abramson, 2024).
Conclusion
To hope is to be human. Superman may wear this emblem of hope on his chest for all to see, but we have the same qualities within us. He may be able to fly and have super-strength and whatnot, but the very core of what makes Superman Superman is instilled in all of us, waiting to break free and shine. Hope can help you through whatever adversity you have in your life, and propel you to your highest potential. Hope is something that has to be held on to tightly, empowering you to seek out your own goals and rewrite your destiny. You may not be able to be like Superman, but with hope, your potential is limitless.
“You’ll never be Superman because you have no idea what it means to be Superman… It’s not about where you were born or the powers you have or what you wear on your chest; its about what you do” - Superman, Infinite Crisis
Have hope, and go be super, man (boom).
Citations
Cona, G., & Semenza, C. (2017). Supplementary motor area as key structure for domain-general sequence processing: A unified account. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 72, 28–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.10.033
Dasgupta, J., Furlano, J. A., Bandler, Z., Fittipaldi, S., Canty, A. J., I., S., Ucheagwu, V., McGettrick, G., Nguyen, K., Lawlor, B., & Nogueira Haas, A. (2023). Hope for brain health: Impacting the life course and society. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1214014. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1214014
Gallagher, M. W., Long, L. J., & Phillips, C. A. (2020). Hope, optimism, self-efficacy, and posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analytic review of the protective effects of positive expectancies. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 76(3), 329-355. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22882
Snyder, C. R. (2002). Hope Theory: Rainbows in the Mind. Psychological Inquiry, 13(4), 249–275. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1448867
Steffen, L.E., Cheavens, J.S., Vowles, K.E. et al. (2019). Hope-related goal cognitions and daily experiences of fatigue, pain, and functional concern among lung cancer patients. Support Care Cancer 28, 827–835 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04878-y
Wang, S., Xu, X., Zhou, M., Chen, T., Yang, X., Chen, G., & Gong, Q. (2017). Hope and the brain: Trait hope mediates the protective role of medial orbitofrontal cortex spontaneous activity against anxiety. NeuroImage, 157, 439-447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.05.056
Wang, S., Zhao, Y., Li, J., Lai, H., Qiu, C., Pan, N., & Gong, Q. (2020). Neurostructural correlates of hope: Dispositional hope mediates the impact of the SMA gray matter volume on subjective well-being in late adolescence. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 15(4), 395-404. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa046
