From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@www.aeiveos.com)
Date: Tue Aug 17 1999 - 09:45:43 MDT
> Anders Sandberg <asa@nada.kth.se> wrote:
> Well, we don't seem to have a "sex cortex", rather sex involves plenty
> of brain systems. Pleasant sensations in the somatosensory and insular
> cortex, temporal lobe stuff, olfaction, emotional reactions in the
> cingulate cortex and limbic parts like the amygdala, hippocampus,
> hypothalamus, medial septum, lots of brainstem nuclei and of course
> hormone influences and various autonomous feedback.
I was grouping these things (not knowing the details) into a
virtual "sex cortex" (assuming it would get amended if someone
knew better...).
I said:
> If I recall my psychology classes, rats will stimulate their
> pleasure centers, forgetting to eat or drink. I wonder if humans
> will do the same thing?
Anders said:
> Apparently not, in the cases it has been done (as a treatment for
> cancer pain) they have been able to stop. Actually, many rats also
> take pauses from brain stimulation to eat and drink when they are
> hungry/thirsty enough.
Anders, there is also piece of "popular knowledge", that rats will
self-administer cocaine (which I'm equating with stimulating
pleasure centers) skipping eating until they either go
unconscious or die. Is this untrue or simply exaggerated?
Robert
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