How positive affect buffers stress responses

Positive affect can help to dampen the impact of adverse life events, facilitating healthy cognitive and emotional functioning after stress. The present review highlights recent findings on stress buffering effects these pleasant feeling states, focusing studies utilizing acute chronic in daily life, manipulations lab, examinations affective adaptations during tasks involving difficult or risky events. We novel that neural reward systems activity brain areas involved signalling highlight role endogenous opioids other neurochemicals this effect. show across different timescales physiological systems, positive buffers against accumulating responses body brain.