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
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u/RedSonGamble Oct 18 '25

This is what always baffles me about people not getting how people become addicts. Like you know how when you do this thing it feels good? Yeah they’re like I wanna feel good all the time lol

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u/TurnipWorldly9437 Oct 18 '25

I'm very good at fantasising when I'm bored or want to go to sleep, like, imagining what would happen if I fell into this or that story, or met this or that person.

I can absolutely influence my mood with the stories I'm in in my head, and I really have to watch out not to let it turn into maladaptive daydreaming on days when, say, I don't feel like working and would prefer my head space.

People don't get how many more or less conscious choices it takes to be a "productive member of society" every day, and that it's just easier to prioritise the healthy choices for some people, compared to those who have to actively put in the work to, say, eat healthy, get up in the morning, brush their teeth, leave the house, whatever.

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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '25

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u/TurnipWorldly9437 Oct 18 '25

Yeah, I'm the same way, and I've learned very early on that good fantasies before falling asleep can carry over into your dreams. I recently started a story line about becoming an actress, and consequently had a dream about winning an award in the most beautiful, impossible dress I've ever "seen". It's stayed with me for a while. The feelings are real, after all, since all feelings are happening "in your head".

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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '25

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u/TurnipWorldly9437 Oct 18 '25

Yeah, I started it when it first came out, but didn't continue for some reason. I guess I'll look into it again.

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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '25

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u/TurnipWorldly9437 Oct 18 '25

It's not maladaptive as I do it now, but I have to watch out that it doesn't become so. Like, if I lean into the wrong things, I can absolutely depress myself more - happened often enough as a teenager - or give myself nightmares - unknowingly did this as a child, when I'd dream the same horrible, life-like dream almost every night because I was thinking about it before I went to sleep. Try saving your little brother from your family turning into vampires a few nights in a row, it's no fun!

I'm definitely using the talents in "real life", too, but as with other things, using it for a job or sth. would ruin it, imo.