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Nature Human Behaviour Aug 2023Pleasure is a fundamental driver of human behaviour, yet its neural basis remains largely unknown. Rodent studies highlight opioidergic neural circuits connecting the...
Pleasure is a fundamental driver of human behaviour, yet its neural basis remains largely unknown. Rodent studies highlight opioidergic neural circuits connecting the nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum, insula and orbitofrontal cortex as critical for the initiation and regulation of pleasure, and human neuroimaging studies exhibit some translational parity. However, whether activation in these regions conveys a generalizable representation of pleasure regulated by opioidergic mechanisms remains unclear. Here we use pattern recognition techniques to develop a human functional magnetic resonance imaging signature of mesocorticolimbic activity unique to states of pleasure. In independent validation tests, this signature is sensitive to pleasant tastes and affect evoked by humour. The signature is spatially co-extensive with mu-opioid receptor gene expression, and its response is attenuated by the opioid antagonist naloxone. These findings provide evidence for a basis of pleasure in humans that is distributed across brain systems.
Topics: Humans; Pleasure; Brain; Emotions; Nucleus Accumbens; Prefrontal Cortex
PubMed: 37386105
DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01639-0 -
Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County,... Oct 2022
Topics: Caffeine; Coffee; Pleasure
PubMed: 35843767
DOI: 10.1016/j.nut.2022.111747 -
Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem 2023to analyze the experiences of pleasure and suffering of nursing workers in COVID-19 hospital units.
OBJECTIVE
to analyze the experiences of pleasure and suffering of nursing workers in COVID-19 hospital units.
METHODS
a multicenter, qualitative study, developed with 35 nursing workers from COVID-19 units in seven hospitals in southern Brazil. Data were produced through semi-structured interviews, submitted to thematic content analysis with the help of NVivo.
RESULTS
experiences of pleasure were linked to gratification, identification with work content, positive results in care, recognition, integration with the team and personal overcoming. Suffering was revealed in daily life of deaths and losses, feelings of helplessness, team conflicts, institutional demands, professional devaluation. Workers reported disenchantment, but also strengthening the meaning of their work, highlighting frontline impacts on their mental health.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
in the dynamics between pleasure and suffering in nursing work in COVID-19 hospital units, elements point to the risk of psychological illness.
Topics: Humans; Pleasure; COVID-19; Anxiety; Emotions; Hospital Units
PubMed: 37162102
DOI: 10.1590/0034-7167-2022-0356 -
Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy : SRA Mar 2015Music is a universal feature of human societies over time, mainly because it allows expression and regulation of strong emotions, thus influencing moods and evoking... (Review)
Review
Music is a universal feature of human societies over time, mainly because it allows expression and regulation of strong emotions, thus influencing moods and evoking pleasure. The nucleus accumbens (NA), the most important pleasure center of the human brain (dominates the reward system), is the 'king of neurosciences' and dopamine (DA) can be rightfully considered as its 'crown' due to the fundamental role that this neurotransmitter plays in the brain's reward system. Purpose of this article was to review the existing literature regarding the relation between music and the NA. Studies have shown that reward value for music can be coded by activity levels in the NA, whose functional connectivity with auditory and frontal areas increases as a function of increasing musical reward. Listening to music strongly modulates activity in a network of mesolimbic structures involved in reward processing including the NA. The functional connectivity between brain regions mediating reward, autonomic and cognitive processing provides insight into understanding why listening to music is one of the most rewarding and pleasurable human experiences. Musical stimuli can significantly increase extracellular DA levels in the NA. NA DA and serotonin were found significantly higher in animals exposed to music. Finally, passive listening to unfamiliar although liked music showed activations in the NA.
Topics: Animals; Auditory Perception; Brain Mapping; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Music; Nucleus Accumbens; Pleasure; Positron-Emission Tomography; Reward
PubMed: 25102783
DOI: 10.1007/s00276-014-1360-0 -
British Journal of Anaesthesia Mar 2020
Topics: Humans; Naloxone; Pain; Pleasure; Remifentanil
PubMed: 31959385
DOI: 10.1016/j.bja.2019.11.027 -
Journal of Personality and Social... Jul 2023Although humans are hard-wired to pursue sensory pleasure, they show considerable heterogeneity in their moral evaluations of sensory pleasure. In some societies,...
Although humans are hard-wired to pursue sensory pleasure, they show considerable heterogeneity in their moral evaluations of sensory pleasure. In some societies, sensory pleasure is pursued without any moral inhibition, but in other societies, it is considered to be immoral and actively suppressed. This research investigates the moral motives behind the suppression of sensory consumption. Is the suppression of sensory consumption caused by the moral motive to promote social justice or the moral motive to promote social order? We test these two competing accounts through country-level archival data and seven preregistered controlled experiments. We find robust evidence that the social-order emphasizing binding moral foundations (authority, loyalty, and purity; Haidt, 2007) suppress sensory consumption. Consequently, individuals and societies that adhere to the binding values are less likely to consume sensory products such as alcohol, tobacco, soda, fragrances, and sex toys. These effects are mediated by prescriptive moral beliefs and feelings of shame. We also identify several moderators of the moral suppression of sensory consumption. Binding values do not suppress sensory consumption after moral licensing. The effects of binding values on sensory consumption attenuate when the products are framed as status-affirming. Finally, while binding values suppress sensory consumption that is personal, they do not suppress sensory consumption that is shared. Altogether, our findings show that social-order emphasizing moral beliefs in society can inhibit the pursuit of pleasure and change consumption patterns in the economy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Humans; Morals; Emotions; Group Processes; Pleasure; Shame
PubMed: 36355686
DOI: 10.1037/pspp0000450 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... Jun 2024Pleasure and pain are two fundamental, intertwined aspects of human emotions. Pleasurable sensations can reduce subjective feelings of pain and vice versa, and we often...
Pleasure and pain are two fundamental, intertwined aspects of human emotions. Pleasurable sensations can reduce subjective feelings of pain and vice versa, and we often perceive the termination of pain as pleasant and the absence of pleasure as unpleasant. This implies the existence of brain systems that integrate them into modality-general representations of affective experiences. Here, we examined representations of affective valence and intensity in an functional MRI (fMRI) study ( = 58) of sustained pleasure and pain. We found that the distinct subpopulations of voxels within the ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortices, the orbitofrontal cortex, the anterior insula, and the amygdala were involved in decoding affective valence versus intensity. Affective valence and intensity predictive models showed significant decoding performance in an independent test dataset ( = 62). These models were differentially connected to distinct large-scale brain networks-the intensity model to the ventral attention network and the valence model to the limbic and default mode networks. Overall, this study identified the brain representations of affective valence and intensity across pleasure and pain, promoting a systems-level understanding of human affective experiences.
Topics: Humans; Pleasure; Male; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Female; Pain; Adult; Brain; Brain Mapping; Young Adult; Amygdala; Emotions; Prefrontal Cortex; Affect
PubMed: 38857402
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2310433121 -
Current Opinion in Psychology Jun 2022Emerging research in positive media psychology has begun to explore how engagement with social media can lead to heightened levels of eudaimonic well-being (focused on... (Review)
Review
Emerging research in positive media psychology has begun to explore how engagement with social media can lead to heightened levels of eudaimonic well-being (focused on meaning rather than on hedonic gratifications). Specific types of content (e.g., heart-warming videos) and user interactions (e.g., commenting, sharing) serve to amplify these experiences, though some variables such as perceived inauthenticity may diminish these outcomes. Many outcomes that occur subsequent to initial exposure and affective response reflect prosocial behaviors and motivations, but unique characteristics associated with social media (e.g., slacktivism) can sometimes present challenges for using social networking sites (SNS) for purposes of social good.
Topics: Humans; Pleasure; Social Media; Social Networking
PubMed: 35334453
DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101307 -
The International Journal of... Dec 2022Masochism is central to all pathologies and its relevance in clinical practise cannot be underestimated. The initial connection made by Freud was that masochism was a...
Masochism is central to all pathologies and its relevance in clinical practise cannot be underestimated. The initial connection made by Freud was that masochism was a component or partial instinct, still operating within the pleasure principle. The relationship between masochism and the theory of drives marks a main theoretical difference in the different authors' explorations of this subject. The understanding of what is meant by 'masochism' gained complexity following Freud's postulation of a life and death drive (which is more or less contemporary with his 1924 paper on masochism) and the differences made by him between 'primary' and 'secondary' masochism. This introduction to the papers presented in this section will address some of these differences, as well as exploring the notions of primary erotogenic masochism, feminine and moral masochism. It will also look at the notion of binding /unbinding of the life/death drives, and the role of the superego. It will introduce the different papers by Novick and Novick, Bourdin, Frank and Persano on developmental perspectives, primary masochism, views on French analysts such as Benno Rosenberg and on Kleinian ideas on the subject as well as on the role of the body, pain and self harm.
Topics: Male; Humans; Freudian Theory; Masochism; Superego; Instinct; Pleasure
PubMed: 36533650
DOI: 10.1080/00207578.2022.2139355 -
Archives of Sexual Behavior Aug 2021Two studies examined the proposal that implicit and explicit sexual motives are associated with the experience of pleasure in sexual situations, as well as with seeking...
Two studies examined the proposal that implicit and explicit sexual motives are associated with the experience of pleasure in sexual situations, as well as with seeking out sexual pleasure. In Study 1, implicit and explicit motive scores of 145 heterosexually identified women and 152 heterosexually identified men were demonstrated to be independently associated with the experience of pleasure in response to videos of female-male sexual behavior, more consistently so for women than men. The implicit and explicit motive scales were also associated with the frequency of viewing erotic materials in daily life. The experience of pleasure within sexual relationships was additionally shown to be associated with sexual motives, although primarily implicit motives. In Study 2 involving 139 women and 65 men, implicit motive scales were associated with ratings of interest in a potential romantic partner. The results support the conceptualization of the two instruments as measures of sexual motivation. The difference between implicit versus explicit measures in the pattern of correlations involving acquainted versus non-acquainted individuals is consistent with research on ideal partner preference.
Topics: Erotica; Female; Humans; Male; Motivation; Pleasure; Sexual Behavior
PubMed: 34355336
DOI: 10.1007/s10508-021-01987-w