The Compass of Pleasure

Vice, virtue and the brain's pleasure circuits.
David J. Linden, Ph.D.
Photo by Dennis Jarvis via Flickr, CC ShareAlike 2.0

The Neurobiology of BDSM Sexual Practice

How can one experience pain, either the physical pain of a smack on the tush or the emotional pain of humiliation, as pleasurable? Aren’t pain and pleasure diametrically opposed? The answer, informed by neurobiology, is that the opposite of pleasure isn’t pain but ennui— a lack of interest in sensation and experience.
Video Games Can Activate the Brain's Pleasure Circuits

Video Games Can Activate the Brain's Pleasure Circuits

This Is Your Brain on Charitable Giving

This Is Your Brain on Charitable Giving

The Irish Ether Drinking Craze

The Irish Ether Drinking Craze

County Derry, Ireland, 1880. During the 1830s Ireland was awash in alcohol, much of it produced locally in response to high alcohol import taxes imposed by the ruling British government. While many locals were assiduously distilling illegal poitín from potatoes or malted barley, a backlash against alcohol was also growing.
Exercise, pleasure and the brain

Exercise, pleasure and the brain

Food, Pleasure and Evolution

Food, Pleasure and Evolution

One front in the societal war for your body fat is located in the test kitchens and offices of restaurant chains, commercial bakeries, and other "food service" corporations.
A Disease You Can Get Yelled At For Having

A Disease You Can Get Yelled At For Having

Aching, yearning to know about the future

Aching, yearning to know about the future

Cocaine, Nicotine and Your Inner Dog

Cocaine, Nicotine and Your Inner Dog

Recently, hundreds of indigenous people staged a protest in front of the US embassy in La Paz Bolivia in which they chewed coca leaf and chanted "Coca es medicina!" The protest was peaceful and good-natured with protestors offering coca leaves to the Bolivian police, some of whom were happy to join in.