Affective neuroscience of pleasure: Reward in humans and animals

Abstract

Introduction: Pleasure and reward are generated by brain circuits that are largely shared between humans and other animals. Discussion: Here, we survey some fundamental topics regarding pleasure mechanisms and explicitly compare humans and animals. Conclusion: Topics surveyed include liking, wanting, and learning components of reward; brain coding versus brain causing of reward; subjective pleasure versus objective hedonic reactions; roles of orbitofrontal cortex and related cortex regions; subcortical hedonic hotspots for pleasure generation; reappraisals of dopamine and pleasure-electrode controversies; and the relation of pleasure to happiness. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.