Vestibular stimulation reduces unrealistic optimism

Unrealistic optimism (UO) refers to the tendency of healthy people to underestimate their risk of future misfortune. Just as left-ear caloric irrigation attenuates anosognosia (denial of manifest illness) in clinical patients, we found that it also reduces UO about future health risks in healthy individuals. This finding demonstrates asymmetric hemispheric involvement in emotion regulation and self-evaluation, and suggests that a similar neuropsychological process underpins anosognosia and healthy optimism.