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I've wondered whether there is a structural account of pleasure in the brain, in contrast and supplement to the "chemical squirt" hypothesis. Perhaps the alignm

I've wondered whether there is a structural account of pleasure in the brain, in contrast and supplement to the "chemical squirt" hypothesis. Perhaps the alignment of brain rhythms could produce a kind of intrinsically pleasurable harmony, akin to music? The logic is that structural brain harmonies could support novel neural synchronies, which could in turn support Hebbian learning (cells that fire together wire together) and lead to pleasurable reinforcement (law of effect). In other words, perhaps the experience of functional neural growth and connection is itself pleasurable. This would make me feel better about the pleasure of meaning. I'd really rather that it be intrinsically pleasurable, in contrast to what is known as "the hedonic gloss" — that anything can be made pleasurable with the addition of certain brain chemicals.

pyentropy 5y ago
VTA plays an important role in a number of processes, including [1] - motivational salience ("want") - associative learning (if a neutral/novel experience is paired with "painful" or "enjoyable" innate instinct, it elicits a response on its own: money or your favourite sports team winning) - positively-valenced emotions ("happy", "content") emotions) - orgasm [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventral_tegmental_area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventral_tegmental_area Via the mesolimbic pathway, from VTA dopamine is signalled to the NAcc, which also has similar functions: processing of motivation, aversion, reward (i.e., incentive salience, pleasure, and positive reinforcement), and reinforcement learning. As of October 2017, hedonic hotspots have been identified in subcompartments within the nucleus accumbens shell, ventral pallidum, parabrachial nucleus, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and insular cortex. Microinjections of opioids, endocannabinoids, and orexin are capable of enhancing liking in these hotspots. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reward_system#Pleasure_centers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reward_system#Pleasure_centers The second Wikipedia link explains the difference between primary and extrinsic reward, "wanting" vs "liking", anhedonia vs aversive salience, and the known information about addiction and neuroanatomy so far.

pyentropy 5y ago

VTA plays an important role in a number of processes, including [1] - motivational salience ("want") - associative learning (if a neutral/novel experience is paired with "painful" or "enjoyable" innate instinct, it elicits a response on its own: money or your favourite sports team winning) - positively-valenced emotions ("happy", "content") emotions) - orgasm [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventral_tegmental_area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventral_tegmental_area Via the mesolimbic pathway, from VTA dopamine is signalled to the NAcc, which also has similar functions: processing of motivation, aversion, reward (i.e., incentive salience, pleasure, and positive reinforcement), and reinforcement learning. As of October 2017, hedonic hotspots have been identified in subcompartments within the nucleus accumbens shell, ventral pallidum, parabrachial nucleus, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and insular cortex. Microinjections of opioids, endocannabinoids, and orexin are capable of enhancing liking in these hotspots. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reward_system#Pleasure_centers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reward_system#Pleasure_centers The second Wikipedia link explains the difference between primary and extrinsic reward, "wanting" vs "liking", anhedonia vs aversive salience, and the known information about addiction and neuroanatomy so far.