FeaturedNeuroscience·June 11, 2024·4 min readBrain’s Dual Response to Pain and Pleasure UnveiledResearchers discovered that the brain processes pain and pleasure through overlapping regions. By analyzing sustained pain from capsaicin and pleasure from chocolate, they identified distinct brain activity patterns linked to both experiences. These findings enhance our understanding of the brain’s mechanisms for emotional responses. The study could have implications for treating chronic pain and depression.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·September 18, 2022·7 min readCannabis Users No Less Likely to Be Motivated or Able to Enjoy Life’s PleasureCannabis users show no difference in motivation for rewards, pleasure from rewards, or the brain's response to reward-seeking than non-cannabis users.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·May 11, 2022·3 min readMotivation/Pleasure Deficits, Not Expression Impairments, Contribute to Social Dysfunction in Schizophrenia PatientsAmotivation and anhedonia rather than expressive dysfunction play a critical role in determining social functioning in those with schizophrenia.Read More
Neuroscience·April 14, 2021·6 min readWomen Describe Specific Techniques to Increase Their Own PleasureSurvey study identifies four main techniques women feel enhance their sexual pleasure. Researchers say understanding the dynamics of pleasure and satisfaction experienced during sexual encounters is critical to good sexual health overall.Read More
FeaturedNeurologyNeurosciencePsychology·April 12, 2021·5 min readProfound Loss of Pleasure Related to Early-Onset DementiaStudy links anhedonia, or the loss of pleasure, to the early onset of frontotemporal dementia. Neuroimaging revealed symptoms of anhedonia were marked by atrophy in the frontal and striatal brain areas of those with FTD.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·November 3, 2020·5 min readYour Favorite Music Can Send Your Brain Into a Pleasure OverloadDo you experience the chills when you hear your favorite song? Researchers used EEG to map brain activity while people listened to their favorite tunes. Findings reveal specific brain areas work together to process music, triggering the reward system and increasing dopamine release.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·January 18, 2020·2 min readMusic helps researchers find link between prediction and pleasureExposing subjects to music composed in an unfamiliar scale, researchers test whether reward can be derived solely from newly formed predictions.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscience·December 31, 2019·3 min readHow the brain balances pleasure and painDifferent classes of neurons in the ventral pallidum control positive and negative motivations, sending opposing signals along a shared motivation-processing circuit.Read More
FeaturedGeneticsNeurosciencePsychology·August 8, 2019·4 min readGenetic variation contributes to individual differences in pleasureWhat we find pleasurable may be down to our genetics. Researchers found nucleus accumbens activation and physical anhedonia were influenced by shared genes. The experience of pleasure and physical anhedonia also appear to share some of the same genes.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscience·December 10, 2018·6 min readDopamine’s Yin-Yang Personality: It’s an Upper and a DownerResearchers shed light on the dual nature of dopamine, as a neurotransmitter that makes us seek pleasure and also reinforces avoidance of pain.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·December 4, 2018·6 min readNew Insights Into Loss of Pleasure in DepressionA new study reveals a brain region that contributes to anhedonia, the loss of pleasure, in those with depression. The study also shows how ketamine acts on this brain region, explaining why the drug appears to be so effective at treating anhedonia.Read More
FeaturedPsychology·August 21, 2018·3 min readBeauty is Simpler, and Less Special, Than We RealizeAnalyzing the work of great philosophers and recent neuroscience research, researchers conclude certain simple features, such as symmetry and roundness, make things more attractive to us.Read More
