Fractional Anisotropy of Cingulum Cingulate Mediates the Relationship Between Happiness and Work Performance in Healthy Individuals

Abstract

Introduction

As competition among companies around the world intensifies, the nature of work and the performance required are becoming more complex. In parallel with this, there is growing attention on happiness and well-being as factors related to improving employee performance. However, little is known about the relationship between happiness and the brain and work performance in healthy people.

Methods

Therefore, we analyzed the correlations between the nine categories of work role performance (WRP), the subjective happiness scale (SHS), and four regions of fractional anisotropy (FA), an index reflecting brain microstructure that has been shown to be related to apathy in previous studies.

Results

It was shown that the cingulum cingulate (CCI) and the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) correlated with the WRP and its facets in a manner consistent with their respective functions. In particular, the CCI was found to be extensively correlated with the facets of the WRP and to have a partially mediating effect on the relationship between the SHS and the WRP.

Conclusion

This study is the first to show that indicators reflecting healthy individuals’ happiness and brain microstructure, which are related to a variety of nonwork factors, are positively correlated with the diverse roles and performance that characterize modern work.