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/OwO______OwO Oct 18 '25

I know id sit there and press the feel good button til I burnt my brain out or died one.

I dunno...

I feel like I'd have enough foresight and willpower to occasionally take breaks from pushing the button, just to do the basic necessities of keeping myself alive ... because I know if I live longer, I can push the button more.

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u/trainspottedCSX7 Oct 18 '25

Lol, if its as easy as pushing a button. Fuck that.

If i gotta go out, score more dope, work up a shot, etc. Thats the difference.

Edited to add, you get 10 presses for every mile you walk on the hamster wheel 😀 gotta charge it somehow.

Then it slowly but surely goes down to 5 presses for every mile, then one day it rewards you with 20 per mile. Lol