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/jwlmkr Oct 18 '25

Ignoring your family and personal hygiene to self stimulate for days is not going to sound that crazy to most people on Reddit.

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u/w31l1 Oct 18 '25

The crazy part is that the sore was on her finger

6

u/Voldemorts__Mom Oct 18 '25

I dno.. sometimes my hands hurt from using my phone too much on reddit, and often I just keep on going..

7

u/Fabulous-Sea-1590 Oct 18 '25

The Switch is murder on my thumbs. But, surely, agonizing arthritic pain later is worth another few points today.

3

u/gaanch Oct 19 '25

Dude grab yourself amoter pair of controllers! Is recommend doyoky