Bulls Head woman receives bone marrow transplant

Gloria Grossman hugging Matthew Harris during a very emotional first meeting that allowed her to show her gratitude. Matthew donated his bone marrow to the Staten Island woman. (Courtesy/KSDK News Channel 5)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- So it's expected that at least once a year, we set aside daily aggravation, worry, anger, frustration and a host of other negative thinking because it's, well, Thanksgiving.

Families gather for the big meal, community groups help the needy, and we're told it's time to focus on the good in our lives and be grateful for it.

Then Friday morning comes and if you didn't take the long weekend, you're back in your car or on a train or bus grumbling about the traffic, fretting over shopping that needs to get done -- you're back to reality.

Well, there's now scientific proof that having an attitude of gratitude can actually change the they way your brain functions -- and the payoff is a lasting, better mood.

And this isn't some new-age, hokey, feel-good philosophy.

It comes from Harvard Medical School and was outlined in a Mental Health Letter on the prestigious university's Health Publications website.

It's titled "In Praise of Gratitude" and simply states that "Expressing thanks may be one of the simplest ways to feel better."

CLINICAL EVIDENCE

"Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. In the process, people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside themselves. As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals -- whether to other people, nature, or a higher power," the publication states.

And those long-term benefits, it explains, are based on actual clinical research

The publication citied several studies, including one by two psychologists, Dr. Robert A. Emmons of the University of California, Davis, and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami, which asked all participants to write a few sentences each week, focusing on particular topics.

"After 10 weeks, those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. Surprisingly, they also exercised more and had fewer visits to physicians than those who focused on sources of aggravation," the publication states.

Also cited was research by Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, who tested the impact of various "positive psychology interventions."

"When their week's assignment was to write and personally deliver a letter of gratitude to someone who had never been properly thanked for his or her kindness, participants immediately exhibited a huge increase in happiness scores. This impact was greater than that from any other intervention, with benefits lasting for a month."

While Harvard points out that studies like these cannot definitively prove cause and effect, most published studies support an association between gratitude and an individual's well-being.

"Other studies have looked at how gratitude can improve relationships. For example, a study of couples found that individuals who took time to express gratitude for their partner not only felt more positive toward the other person but also felt more comfortable expressing concerns about their relationship," the publication states.

The Harvard missive on mental health offered the following tips on how to cultivate that positive mood into something more lasting:

Write a thank-you note.

Thank someone mentally

Keep a gratitude journal.

Count your blessings.

Pray.

Meditate.

Some of that research showed taking these kinds of action has a lasting impact on brain chemistry: "....subjects who participated in gratitude letter writing showed both behavioral increases in gratitude and significantly greater neural modulation by gratitude in the medial prefrontal cortex three months later," according to pubmed.gov.

From a simple "thank you" to neural modulation that can last long after the leftovers are gone: OK, my medial prefrontal cortex thanks you for reading.