The Enchanted Loom Teasing sturdy threads from

neuroscience masterworks

Teasing 10

threads from

David

Linden’s…

Thread 1:

Shopping, learning, gambling, prayer, orgasm,

and altruism all trigger pleasure circuits in the

Ventral Tegmental Area deep in the brain.

(pg. 3)

Thread 2:

What makes pleasure so compelling is that we

adorn it with associations, emotions, social

meaning, sights, tastes, sounds and smells.

(pg. 26)

Thread 3:

A whole lot of

what drugs do

to the mind is

in the mind.

(pg. 42)

Thread 4:

Many cultural influences insist that obesity is a

failure of

willpower.

Genetic

evidence

argues

strongly

against

that idea.

(pg. 80)

Thread 5:

Fats and sugars

are super-

addictive,

producing

larger jolts to

the pleasure

circuits

together

than either

one alone.

(pg. 84)

Thread 6:

Portions of the

prefrontal

cortex

become

deactivated in

people newly

fallen in love.

(pg. 103)

Thread 7:

Some men and women can reliably achieve

orgasm

through

thought

alone

without

any

touching

whatsoever.

(pg. 111)

Thread 8:

Any sound, smell, sight or memory can become

associated with pleasure and can thereby

become pleasurable in it’s own right.

(pg. 135)

Thread 9:

The opposite of love is indifference; the

opposite of pleasure is not pain, but ennui-

a lack of interest in sensation and experience.

(pg. 154)

Thread 10:

Knowledge

for the sake of

knowledge can

engage the

pleasure/

reward

circuitry.

Some ideas can

be as addictive

as drugs.

(pgs. 168-169)

Image Credits:

Title Page: http://www.rappler.com/science-nature/23193-personality-traits-brain-scans

Slide 3 - http://bit.ly/1KunJ4e

Slide 12 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Inspiration-152043778

Slide 2 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Linden

Slide 6 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/obesity-155829715

Slide 5 - http://theotherlandofoz.com/2014/07/13/happy/

Slide 11 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Boredom-306217907

Slide 10 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Smells-And-Sensations-356651059

Slide 14 - http://www.rappler.com/science-nature/23193-personality-traits-brain-scans

Slide 9 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Orgasm-458607713

Slide 8 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/first-love-429739657

Slide 7 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Sugar-227111621

Slide 4 - http://oak-art-gallery.deviantart.com/art/PLEASURE-176665796

Mark Brady, PhD TheEnchantedLoom@gmail.com

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