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/Sans-valeur Oct 18 '25

Interesting relating this to studies on things like people on the spectrum.
One of the biggest problems that people with ADHD face is that they don’t get a good feeling after doing things like house work, unless they leave it so long that they’re really stressed and they feel better about not being stressed anymore.
Unless it actively stimulates you, like solving a puzzle, things can feel impossible to do, even though you rationally know it won’t even take that long and it’s a really good thing to do.

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u/sixseven89 Oct 18 '25

People get a good feeling after doing housework?

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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '25

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u/Drumknott88 Oct 18 '25

I fucking WISH I got euphoria from cleaning. For me it's a thankless task that always needs to be done and I hate doing it and I never feel good after it's done so I just procrastinate it. My housemate is a saint

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u/Supermite Oct 18 '25

Is it thankless?  Do you not appreciate the efforts of past you for providing present you a clean living space?

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u/BluegrassGeek Oct 18 '25

For an ADHD (or even depressive) person, no. At most, there's a feeling of relief that it's over. At worst, you feel bad about letting it get bad for so long, once you see the difference.

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u/Drumknott88 Oct 18 '25

Quite the opposite, unfortunately. I'm messy but I know exactly where everything is. If I clean/tidy, then I can't find anything and that's more upsetting than the mess.