Pleasure brain circuit

Brain Circuit That Drives Pleasure Inducing Behavior Identified

NEUROSCIENCE NEWSMARCH 23, 2017Summary: Neurons in an area of the brain commonly associated with fear drive pleasure seeking behaviors, a new study reports.

Source: MIT.

Surprisingly, the neurons are located in a brain region thought to be linked with fear.

Scientists have long believed that the central amygdala, a structure located deep within the brain, is linked with fear and responses to unpleasant events.

However, a team of MIT neuroscientists has now discovered a circuit in this structure that responds to rewarding events. In a study of mice, activating this circuit with certain stimuli made the animals seek those stimuli further. The researchers also found a circuit that controls responses to fearful events, but most of the neurons in the central amygdala are involved in the reward circuit, they report./.../