Tag Archives: reward

December 22

Fatal Attraction: What is Sex and Love Addiction?

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Have you ever been in love? Has it made you do crazy things? Whether it was sending your lover bundles of flowers, stalking their social media (or stalking them in person), or boiling a rabbit in a pot of water, we’ve all been there. We know that love is enthralling. It is potent enough in […]

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November 10

Say Cheese: The neuroscience of our devotion to dairy

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You might be the kind of person that can’t wait for the “cheese pull” when grabbing a hot slice of pizza, or perhaps you’re the first at the table to suggest a cheese-filled charcuterie board for your appetizer (both of these examples are stemming from personal experience, of course). If you are a fellow cheese […]

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September 28

Dopamine is NOT your brain’s reward chemical

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Dopamine is NOT your brain’s reward chemical.  Or rather, dopamine is not JUST your brain’s reward chemical, nor is it your brain’s ONLY reward chemical.

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September 17

Singing in the [B]rain

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Music has always wielded a disconcerting power over me. In times of overwhelming emotions, listening to a sad song or playing Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat on the piano has propelled me into cathartic fits of sobbing. Songs with escalating intensity and complexity (such as San Fermin’s Parasites) have made me feel as if a wave […]

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June 11

Technicalities of the Tingles: The science of sounds that feel good. #ASMR

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“I wanted someone speaking in lightly accented English. And I wanted them talking to me about jewelry, slowly and deliberately.” — Andrea Seigel, This American Life #491: Tribes (aired March 29, 2013) Now that NeuWriteSD’s gender month is over, I thought I’d ease our readers back into the usual routine with a scientifically-stimulating but slightly […]

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April 23

Am I addicted to coffee?

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Recently over coffee, my friend told me that scientists have been doing drug research wrong for years. He was referring to an article about the effects of social environment on drug taking. In the article, the author criticizes scientists, government, and media for portraying drug addiction without accounting for causes of drug addiction outside of […]

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