The Christmas season can cause some people to get into the spirit as they hang up decorations, shop for presents, and give to charities; while other people have the "bah humbug" attitude of being uninterested or annoyed like Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol." A new study shows that the Christmas spirit resulting in feelings of joy or repulsion is caused by areas in the brain that cause people's reaction to the festive time of year. They are activated by things such as family dinners and socially-shared emotions.
The study was completed by Copenhagen University. It was published in the Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal, according to Fox 5.
Danish researchers have traced the Christmas spirit to certain brain regions that might be hard-wired in people. They produce joy or the so-called "bah humbug" syndrome that causes negative reactions to the festive season.
The study included two groups. One was the Christmas group that included 10 Danes who yearly celebrate Christmas. The other group was made up of 10 people of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent who do not celebrate the holiday.
Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of the volunteers, while showing them two kinds of images. They included holiday pictures and regular ones.
In the Yuletide group a "Christmas spirit network" caused five regions of the brain to light up, according to Voice of America. Those areas are related to spirituality, socially-shared emotions, and mouth actions linked to eating meals with family and friends.
However, the non-Christmas group's MRI scans produced different results. They did not show the same neurological reactions to the Christmas photos.
Bryan Haddock is a medical physicist at a hospital connected with Copenhagen University. He explained that Christmas scenes with holiday decorations affect the brain, putting people in the holiday "mood."
However, Haddock shared it is still a scientific mystery how the Christmas spirit network works, or why some people have it. It is also unclear if other happy events would cause the same MRI results.
Here's some advice about how to beat holiday depression: