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What it means to be well and to achieve well-being is fundamental to the human condition. Scholars of many disciplines have attempted to define well-being and to investigate the behavioral and neural correlates of well-being. Despite many decades of inquiry into well-being, much remains unknown. The study of well-being has evolved over time, shifting in focus and methodology. Many recent investigations into well-being have taken a neuroscientific approach to try to bolster understanding of this complex construct. A growing body of literature has directly examined the association between well-being and the brain. The current review synthesizes the extant literature regarding the neural correlates of trait-like well-being (i.e., the propensity to live according to one's true nature). Although reported associations between well-being and the brain varied, some notable patterns were evidenced in the literature. In particular, the strongest and most consistent association emerged between well-being and the anterior cingulate cortex. In addition, patterns of association between well-being and the orbitofrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, superior temporal gyrus, and thalamus emerged. These regions largely comprise the salience and default mode networks, suggesting a possible relationship between well-being and brain networks involved in the integration of relevant and significant stimuli. Various methodological concerns are addressed and recommendations for future research are discussed.

The current study focused on the degree to which decision context (deliberative vs. affective) differentially impacted the use of available information about uncertainty (i.e., probability, positive and negative outcome magnitudes, expected value, and variance/risk) when older adults were faced with decisions under risk. In addition, we examined whether individual differences in general mental ability and executive function moderated the associations between age and information use. Participants (N = 96) completed a neuropsychological assessment and the hot (affective) and cold (deliberative) versions of an explicit risk task. Our results did not find a significant Age × Hot/Cold Condition interaction on overall risk-taking. However, we found that older adults were less likely to use the full decision information available regardless of the decision context. This finding suggested more global age differences in information use. Moreover, older adults were less likely to make expected-value sensitive decisions, regardless of the hot/cold context. Finally, we found that low performance on measures of executive functioning, but not general mental ability, appears to be a risk factor for lower information use. This pattern appears in middle age and progressively becomes stronger in older age. The current work provides evidence that common underlying decision processes may operate in risk tasks deemed either affective or deliberative. It further suggests that underlying mechanisms such as information use may be paramount, relative to differences in the affective context. Additionally, individual differences in neuropsychological function may act as a moderator in the tendency to use available information across affective context.