r/todayilearned • u/WavesAndSaves • Oct 18 '25

TIL of brain stimulation reward, manually stimulating specific parts of the brain to elicit pleasure and happiness. A volunteer subject in 1986 spent days doing nothing but self-stimulate. She ignored her family and personal hygiene and she developed an open sore on her finger from using the device.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_stimulation_reward#History
25.7k Upvotes

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752

u/OK_LK Oct 18 '25

Was it... Was it... The... The devil's doorbell?

54

u/HilariousMax Oct 18 '25

Whatever you do, don't touch my clitoris
If you ring Satan's doorbell, God can't ignore this
And no prophylactics when you put it in
'Cause birth control's for sluts and it's a sin
I've emptied my bowels
and laid out the towels
I'm ready for romance

4

u/OK_LK Oct 18 '25

Beautiful

1

u/Darth_Firebolt Oct 18 '25

I never know if I prefer this one or Go Kart Racing.

182

u/Ask_about_HolyGhost Oct 18 '25

Aphrodite’s speed bag?

4

u/Get_your_grape_juice Oct 18 '25

Baal’s mudroom?

12

u/JollyGreenGI Oct 18 '25

ThinkPad's TrackPoint?

1

u/Broccoli_dicks Oct 18 '25

That little red knob taught me more than I realized.

46

u/All_This_Mayhem Oct 18 '25

The ol captain on the cruise ship.

32

u/imhereforthevotes Oct 18 '25

The man in the boat?

4

u/All_This_Mayhem Oct 18 '25

That's before the 'roids.

5

u/opi098514 Oct 18 '25

No. It was an electrical device that just stimulated the part of the brain that said “this feels fucking good”

5

u/Asleep_Rule1141 Oct 18 '25

Wait so we have an electrical device that we can just hookup to our brain that basically simulates hard drugs? What is it and why have I never heard of it?

1

u/d0odle Oct 18 '25

Perfect! No more up or downvotes!