Our common craving: to feel good
When it comes down to it, we all share a common craving: to feel good. University of Oxford neuroscientist Morton Kringelbach knows this. It's why he's writing his new book The Pleasure Center and why he shared with Reader's Digest (August, 2008) some of his revolutionary research. Check this out.Asked RD: What do people find most pleasurable in their lives? Sex, says Kringelbach. Second is being with friends. Most everything we find pleasurable -- like eating and drinking -- is so much better when shared with someone else.
Another question: Can you help us cure addictions such as overeating? It hasn't been tested yet, reports the scientist, but deep-brain electrodes may help restore the balance of selective satiety mechanisms in the brain -- these are the signals that tell us enough is enough. Obese people may not have the selective satiation that thin people do.
One more: Why do we feel guilty about indulging in a pleasure? Guilt is a like a built-in stop valve, Kringelbach says. If we overindulge in sex, food, or drugs, it can become an addiction that we feed to the exclusion of what gives us the most pleasure -- other people. And this makes us feel guilty.
For more about why we humans like to feel good, click here.
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