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Neuron May 2015Pleasure is mediated by well-developed mesocorticolimbic circuitry and serves adaptive functions. In affective disorders, anhedonia (lack of pleasure) or dysphoria... (Review)
Review
Pleasure is mediated by well-developed mesocorticolimbic circuitry and serves adaptive functions. In affective disorders, anhedonia (lack of pleasure) or dysphoria (negative affect) can result from breakdowns of that hedonic system. Human neuroimaging studies indicate that surprisingly similar circuitry is activated by quite diverse pleasures, suggesting a common neural currency shared by all. Wanting for reward is generated by a large and distributed brain system. Liking, or pleasure itself, is generated by a smaller set of hedonic hot spots within limbic circuitry. Those hot spots also can be embedded in broader anatomical patterns of valence organization, such as in a keyboard pattern of nucleus accumbens generators for desire versus dread. In contrast, some of the best known textbook candidates for pleasure generators, including classic pleasure electrodes and the mesolimbic dopamine system, may not generate pleasure after all. These emerging insights into brain pleasure mechanisms may eventually facilitate better treatments for affective disorders.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Humans; Pleasure
PubMed: 25950633
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.02.018 -
The International Journal on Drug Policy Nov 2017Within the field of drug and alcohol studies, researchers think about pleasure or against it; we analyse, consider, investigate, invoke or ignore it. The philosophically... (Review)
Review
Within the field of drug and alcohol studies, researchers think about pleasure or against it; we analyse, consider, investigate, invoke or ignore it. The philosophically inclined may think of pleasure or write on it, but in each of these scenarios pleasure is kept at an arm's length while the researcher appears to remain unmoved - detached observers, objective scientists, conceptual experts, program directors, sharp critics, policy advocates - sober judges whose sovereignty is secured by the formal conventions of positivist research, established theory, institutional authority and/or disciplinary knowledge. This paper asks what happens when pleasure is allowed to emerge as a constitutive element in the relations of drug and alcohol research. What happens when we conceive our work as thinking with pleasure, rather than simply researching pleasure or thinking about it? I return to the later work of Foucault, reading it alongside conceptions of the experiment drawn from Science and Technology Studies, arguing that both the pleasures of drug consumption and drug research might be conceived more generatively as mutually implicated in events.
Topics: Humans; Pleasure; Research; Substance-Related Disorders
PubMed: 28886888
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2017.07.019 -
Proceedings. Biological Sciences May 2017Today's society is pleasure seeking. We expect to obtain pleasurable experiences fast and easily. We are used to hyper-palatable foods and drinks, and we can get... (Review)
Review
UNLABELLED
Today's society is pleasure seeking. We expect to obtain pleasurable experiences fast and easily. We are used to hyper-palatable foods and drinks, and we can get pornography, games and gadgets whenever we want them.
THE PROBLEM
with this type of pleasure-maximizing choice behaviour we may be turning ourselves into mindless pleasure junkies, handing over our free will for the next dopamine shoot. Pleasure-only activities are fun. In excess, however, such activities might have negative effects on our biopsychological health: they provoke a change in the neural mechanisms underlying choice behaviour. Choice behaviour becomes biased towards short-term pleasure-maximizing goals, just as in the addicted brain (modulated by the amygdala, posterior ventromedial prefrontal cortex' (VMPFC), striatum, nucleus accumbens; 'A-system') and away from long-term prosperity and general well-being maximizing objectives (normally ensured by the insula, anterior VMPFC, hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC); 'I-system'). This paper outlines, first, what 'pleasure' is and what 'pleasure-only' activities are (e.g. social media engagement, hyper-palatable eating). Second, an account is given of the type of action that might aid to maintain the neural systems underlying choice behaviour balanced. Finally, it is proposed that engagement with the arts might be an activity with the potential to foster healthy choice behaviour-and not be just for pleasure. The evidence in this rather new field of research is still piecemeal and inconclusive. This review aims to motivate targeted research in this domain.
Topics: Amygdala; Brain; Brain Mapping; Choice Behavior; Humans; Pleasure; Prefrontal Cortex
PubMed: 28469018
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2837 -
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Oct 2011Songbirds sing at high rates within multiple contexts, suggesting that they are highly motivated to communicate and that the act of singing itself may be rewarding.... (Review)
Review
Songbirds sing at high rates within multiple contexts, suggesting that they are highly motivated to communicate and that the act of singing itself may be rewarding. Little is known about the neural regulation of the motivation to communicate. Dopamine and opioid neuropeptides play a primary role in reward seeking and sensory pleasure. In songbirds, these neurochemicals are found within brain regions implicated in both motivation and reward, including the medial preoptic nucleus (mPOA) and ventral tegmental area (VTA). Several lines of research indicate that dopamine and opioids in these regions play a role in birdsong that differs depending upon whether song is used to attract females (female-directed song) or is not directed towards other individuals (undirected song). Evidence is reviewed supporting the hypotheses: (1) that distinct patterns of dopamine activity influence the motivation to produce undirected and female-directed song, (2) that undirected communication is intrinsically reinforced by immediate release of opioids induced by the act of singing, and (3) that directed communication is socially reinforced by opioids released as part of social interactions.
Topics: Analgesics, Opioid; Animals; Birds; Dopamine; Endorphins; Female; Homeostasis; Male; Motivation; Pleasure; Preoptic Area; Starlings; Ventral Tegmental Area; Vocalization, Animal
PubMed: 21251924
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2010.12.017 -
Current Drug Abuse Reviews 2016People commonly use psychoactive substances to increase physical and psychological pleasure. Neuroadaptations in the brain's reward system coupled with changes in social... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
People commonly use psychoactive substances to increase physical and psychological pleasure. Neuroadaptations in the brain's reward system coupled with changes in social functioning and networking resulting from chronic substance use impede the ability to derive pleasure from non-substance related activities.
OBJECTIVE
We elucidate and validate the hypothesis that treatments for substance use disorders would potentially have a stronger and broader impact by helping recipients to experience pleasure as part of an expansive focus of increasing adaptive functioning, well-being, and personal fulfillment and actualization.
METHOD
We have organized and integrated relatively sparse and disparate theory and research to describe a multi-stage model linking pleasure and substance use. We review research on pleasure in the context of treatment for substance use, and describe future research directions.
RESULTS
Our model integrates several independent research programs with prominent theories and models of substance dependence that together provide evidence that pleasure, or lack thereof, is a risk or protective factor for initiating, escalating and maintaining substance use and substance use disorders. Pleasure is an overlooked but potentially high-yield target of existing evidence-based treatments.
CONCLUSION
Research is needed to investigate the relation between pleasure and substance use, and existing and newly developed treatments that have the potential to increase pleasure. By increasing pleasure such treatments have the potential to help recipients to live fuller and richer lives. Integration of pleasure into existing treatments has compelling transdiagnostic implications for individuals at any point along a substance use severity continuum.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Brain; Evidence-Based Practice; Humans; Models, Psychological; Pleasure; Psychotropic Drugs; Research Design; Reward; Substance-Related Disorders
PubMed: 28290252
DOI: 10.2174/1874473710666170308163310 -
Journal of Sex Research Sep 2021While researchers have thoroughly studied the who, what, and when of first sexual experiences, we know much less about how people construct, experience, and proceed (or... (Review)
Review
While researchers have thoroughly studied the who, what, and when of first sexual experiences, we know much less about how people construct, experience, and proceed (or not) with sexual pleasure in these experiences and beyond. To address this knowledge gap, the Global Advisory Board for Sexual Health and Wellbeing (GAB) coordinated a rapid review of published peer-reviewed research to determine what is currently known about sexual pleasure in first sexual experiences. We found 23 papers exploring this subject and its intersections with sexual health and sexual rights. The results reveal significant gaps in erotic education, gender equity, vulnerability and connection, and communication efficacy; and highlight important domains to consider in future research. Our findings draw out the key features of pleasurable first sexual experience(s), namely that individuals with the agency to formulate their definition and context of what pleasure means to them are more likely to experience pleasure at first sex. This finding points to promising ways to improve first sexual experiences through erotic skills building and through addressing knowledge gaps about having sex for the first time among disadvantaged groups.
Topics: Erotica; Humans; Pleasure; Sexual Behavior; Sexual Health
PubMed: 33871295
DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2021.1904810 -
Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters Dec 2023Pleasure is often left out of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) interventions. The expanding evidence base suggests that the inclusion of pleasure can... (Review)
Review
Pleasure is often left out of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) interventions. The expanding evidence base suggests that the inclusion of pleasure can improve SRHR outcomes and increase safer sex practices. However, there is a lack of research into how to include pleasure in applied SRHR work, particularly outside of key groups. This study aims to present the experiences of a cohort of pleasure implementers and develop a series of implementation best practices. Data were gathered from a structured survey filled out by pleasure implementers ( = 8) twice between September 2021 and October 2022 at 6-month intervals. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were carried out remotely with pleasure implementers, those that funded their pleasure work ( = 2) or provided technical support ( = 2) in January 2023. Pleasure implementers, based in Central, East and Southern Africa and India, reported tangible outcomes of their pleasure-based work in various contexts and across diverse groups. Themes that emerged from analysis of the FGDs and survey responses included pleasure as a portal to positive outcomes, barriers to a pleasure approach, and mechanisms by which pleasure allows for open and non-judgmental discussion about sex and pleasure. A series of best practices emerged from pleasure implementer experiences. This study concludes that a pleasure-based approach can be introduced to a wide range of groups and communities, even those assumed too conservative to accept a pleasure approach. The best practices developed offer a range of practically driven recommendations, that others can lean on when integrating a pleasure approach into their work.
Topics: Humans; Reproductive Health; Pleasure; Sexual Behavior; Reproduction; Sexual Health
PubMed: 38037813
DOI: 10.1080/26410397.2023.2275838 -
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 -
L'Encephale Apr 2014Despite many controversies the debate between psychoanalysis and neuroscience remains intense, all the more since the Freudian theory stands as a reference for a number... (Review)
Review
Despite many controversies the debate between psychoanalysis and neuroscience remains intense, all the more since the Freudian theory stands as a reference for a number of medical practitioners and faculty psychiatrists, at least in France. Instead of going on arguing we think that it may be more constructive to favour dialogue through the analysis of a precise concept developed in each discipline. The Freudian theory of pleasure, because it is based on biological principles, appears an appropriate topic to perform this task. In this paper, we aim at comparing Freud's propositions to those issued from recent findings in Neuroscience. Like all emotions, pleasure is acknowledged as a motivating factor in contemporary models. Pleasure can indeed be either rewarding when it follows satisfaction, or incentive when it reinforces behaviours. The Freudian concept of pleasure is more univocal. In Freud's theory, pleasure is assumed to be the result of the discharge of the accumulated excitation which will thus reduce the tension. This quantitative approach corresponds to the classical scheme that associates satisfaction and pleasure. Satisfaction of a need would induce both a decrease in tension and the development of pleasure. However, clinical contradictions to this model, such as the occasional co-existence between pleasure and excitation, drove Freud to suggest different theoretical reversals. Freud's 1905 publication, which describes how preliminary sexual pleasures contribute to an increased excitation and a sexual satisfaction, is the only analysis which provides an adapted answer to the apparent paradox of pleasure and excitation co-existence. Studies on the neurobiological mechanisms responsible for the development of pleasure may help to fill this gap in the Freudian theory. Activity of the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway is strongly associated with the reward system. Experimental studies performed in animals have shown that increased dopaminergic activity in the ventral tegmental area (VTA, where dopaminergic cell bodies lie) results either from an unexpected reward or, after recognition of the reward characteristics, from the anticipation of the reward. Therefore, anticipation of a satisfaction activates neurochemical pleasure mechanisms and reinforces behaviour which facilitates its obtention. In this way, pleasure contributes to an increased level of organism excitation. In addition to these data, neuroscience studies have confirmed, as proposed by Freud, the homeostatic role of pleasure when the latter is triggered by an internal need. However, these studies have also indicated that, unlike proposed by Freud, pleasure is not only the result of obtaining a satisfaction but has also a role in the promotion of action. In sum, neuroscience suggest that the Freudian model favours the hedonic modality of reward circuit to the detriment of its motivational modality.
Topics: Animals; Anticipation, Psychological; Appetitive Behavior; Arousal; Brain Mapping; Dopamine; Female; Freudian Theory; Homeostasis; Humans; Hypothalamic Area, Lateral; Male; Motivation; Neural Pathways; Pleasure; Rats; Reinforcement, Psychology; Reward; Self Stimulation; Sexual Behavior; Ventral Tegmental Area
PubMed: 24183987
DOI: 10.1016/j.encep.2013.06.003 -
Acta Neuropsychiatrica Oct 2022The multiplicity and complexity of the neuronal connections in the central nervous system make it difficult to disentangle circuits that play an essential role in the... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
The multiplicity and complexity of the neuronal connections in the central nervous system make it difficult to disentangle circuits that play an essential role in the development or treatment of (neuro)psychiatric disorders. By choosing the evolutionary development of the forebrain as a starting point, a certain order in the connections can be created. The dorsal diencephalic connection (DDC) system can be applied for the development of biomarkers that can predict treatment response.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
After providing a brief introduction to the theory, we examined neuroanatomical publications on the connectivity of the DDC system. We then searched for neurochemical components that are specific for the habenula.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The best strategy to find biomarkers that reflect the function of the habenular connection is to use genetic variants of receptors, transporters or enzymes specific to this complex. By activating these with probes and measuring the response in people with different functional genotypes, the usefulness of biomarkers can be assessed.
CONCLUSIONS
The most promising biomarkers in this respect are those linked to activation or inhibition of the nicotine receptor, dopamine D4 receptor, μ-opioid receptor and also those of the functioning of habenular glia cells (astrocytes and microglia).
Topics: Humans; Pleasure; Happiness; Receptors, Dopamine D4; Nicotine; Biomarkers
PubMed: 35587050
DOI: 10.1017/neu.2022.15