Where is the Brains Pleasure Center?
Although the nucleus accumbens, in the limbic system near the center of the brain, is usually considered the “pleasure center” of the brain, but this is actually a misnomer, as the brain has multiple pleasure centers. However, the nucleus accumbens is the among the most prominent. The nucleus accumbens mediates the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which underlies pleasure and relaxation. But the dopamine itself is released from the ventral tegmental area (VTA), another contender for the title of “pleasure center.” The VTA releases dopamine to the nucleus accumbens, the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and septum, all of which play an important role in what is called the reward circuit. The term “pleasure center” originated with experiments by James Olds and Peter Milner in the 1950s probing the limbic systems of rats. They found that the rats quite enjoyed stimulation of their septal areas, located near the brain stem and among the oldest areas of the brain. In fact, the rats enjo
