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Psychopharmacology (2008) 199:457480 DOI 10.1007/s00213-008-1099-6
REVIEW
Affective neuroscience of pleasure: reward in humans and animals
Kent C. Berridge & Morten L. Kringelbach
Received: 3 July 2007 / Accepted: 31 January 2008 / Published online: 3 March 2008 # Springer-Verlag 2008
Abstract Introduction Pleasure and reward are generated by brain circuits that are largely shared between humans and other animals.
Discussion Here, we survey some fundamental topics regarding pleasure mechanisms and explicitly compare humans and animals.Conclusion Topics surveyed include liking, wanting, and learning components of reward; brain coding versus brain causing of reward; subjective pleasure versus objective hedonic reactions; roles of orbitofrontal cortex and related cortex regions; subcortical hedonic hotspots for pleasure generation; reappraisals of dopamine and pleasure-electrode controversies; and the relation of pleasure to happiness.
Keywords Reward . Pleasure . Motivation . Hedonic . Food . Addiction . Nucleus accumbens . Orbitofrontal cortex . Opioid . Dopamine . Mesolimbic . Deep brain stimulation . Addiction
Introduction
Affective neuroscience has emerged as an exciting discipline in recent years (Berridge 2003a; Damasio 2004; Davidson et al. 2003; Davidson and Sutton 1995; Feldman Barrett and Wager 2006; Kringelbach 2005, 2008; LeDoux and Phelps 2000; Leknes and Tracey 2008; Panksepp 1991; 1998; Rolls 2005). Many important insights have been gained into brain mechanisms of affect, motivation, and emotion through studies of both animals and humans.
A particularly important topic for affective neuroscience is to understand how brains generate pleasure and other psychological components of reward because reward is important in daily life. Pleasure is essential to a normal sense of well-being. Pathological losses of pleasure may be a devastating part of many affective disorders ranging from depression to schizophrenia and addiction.
Here, our aim is to bridge findings from research in humans and other animals on pleasure and reward (Kringelbach and Berridge 2008). In this review, we hope to explore some of the principles important for a general understanding of how the brain mediates pleasure. Such principles may have important translational implications for treating affective disorders. Finally, to help clarify the discussion, we have included a glossary of terms at end.
Multiple psychological components of reward
We note that a pleasant stimulus is often called a rewarding stimulus or simply a reward. However, it is useful to keep in...