Abstract:

Optimism bias is the tendency for individuals to believe that his or her chances of experiencing a positive event were higher or a negative event were lower than that to one's peers (Weinstein, 1980). The main behavior paradigm of exploring optimism bias contained social comparative paradigm, past-future imaging and information updating task. Researches by fMRI showed that the neural mechanisms of optimistic bias were associated with rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), amygdala, prefrontal cortex (PFC)and dopamine system. Considering the paradigm of optimism bias, we could combine social comparative paradigm to information updating task for exploring it; the cognitive mechnisms of optimism bias will be researched by ERP method particllarly; and the brain region mediating subtype of optimism bias will also be clarified; and then the neural mechnism of mental health impacted by optimism bias will be demonstrated, in future direction.

Key words: optimism bias, paradigm, cognitive mechanism, neural mechanism