PSY3190 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Nucleus Accumbens, Prefrontal Cortex, Tegmentum
3 Sep 2018
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What things in our environment increase the likelihood that we will carry out certain behaviours: the outcome you get from performing certain behaviours= reinforcement, reinforcement that is positive= more likely to repeat beh. What produces pleasure/natural highs: being accepted, achieving a goal, exercise, falling in love, sexual activity, =natural reinforcers, do have learned reinforcers e. g. money. The pursuit of happiness: things associated w/happiness= culturally bound. Some areas the animals voluntarily stimulated more than others. Implanted electrodes in different parts of the cortex of the rats brain and into some subcortical brain regions. Specific parts of the brain the rats would learn to press the lever to get stimulation. Ventral tegmental area, lateral hypothalamus, if electrode there you can get the rat to tap the lever over and over again. Intracranial self- stimulation: responsive to intracranial self stimulation: nucleus accumbens (pleasure & euphoria), parts of hypothalamus ( opiod addiction?)
