Scientific Understanding of Consciousness
Consciousness as an Emergent Property of Thalamocortical Activity

Pain and Pleasure Systems

Pain network consists of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), insula (Ins), somatosensory cortex (SSC), thalamus (Thal), and periaqueductal gray (PAG). This network is implicated in physical and social pain processes.

 

Reward or pleasure network consists of the ventral tegmental area (VTA), ventral striatum (VS), ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), and the amygdala (Amyg). This network is implicated in physical and social rewards.

 

Orbital cortex may be especially involved in working memories about rewards and punishments. (LeDoux; Emotional Brain, 285)

 

Emotion and motivation are linked by the property that both involve rewards and punishers. (Rolls; Emotion Explained, 1)

Science 13 February 2009: Vol. 323. no. 5916, pp. 890 – 891; Pains and Pleasures of Social Life; Matthew D. Lieberman and Naomi I. Eisenberger; Department of Psychology, 1285 Franz Hall, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA

Behaviors Associated with Pleasure or Pain

 Feelings of pain or pleasure or some quality in between are the bedrock of our minds. (Damasio; Looking for Spinoza, 3)

Behaviors associated with pleasure or pain include reactions of approach or withdrawal. (Damasio; Looking for Spinoza, 32)

When goals are attained, the body rewards us with a pleasure sensation. (Gazzaniga; Human, 218)

We get a pleasure signal when we need something sweet and full of fat. (Gazzaniga; Human, 218)

Avoidance and evasion or endorsement and approach. (Damasio; Looking for Spinoza, 41)

Pain behaviors include facial expressions of alarm and suffering and a host of responses organized by the immune system. (Damasio; Looking for Spinoza, 32)

Pleasure behaviors include relaxation, facial expressions of confidence and well-being, and production of certain classes of chemicals such as endorphins. (Damasio; Looking for Spinoza, 33)

Drives and motivations include hunger, thirst, curiosity and exploration, play and sex. (Damasio; Looking for Spinoza, 34)

Emotions are inseparable from the idea of reward or punishment, of pleasure or pain, of approach or withdrawal, of personal advantage and disadvantage.  Inevitably, emotions are inseparable from the idea of good and evil. (Damasio; Feeling of What Happens, 55)

Behaviors experienced as rewarding and pleasurable depend on the release of dopamine from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the brainstem and its availability in the nucleus accumbens in the basal forebrain. (Damasio; Looking for Spinoza, 63)

Dopamine levels rise in the nucleus accumbens in response to natural rewards (food, water, and sexual stimuli), and conditioned incentives (stimuli associated with rewards). (LeDoux; Synaptic Self, 247)

Mental state we call joy and its variants is something like a score composed in the key of pleasure. (Damasio; Looking for Spinoza, 137)

Mental state we called sorrow encompasses negative states such as anguish, fear, guilt, and despair.  These are scores composed in the key of pain. (Damasio; Looking for Spinoza, 137)

Brain maps associated with joy signifies states of equilibrium for the organism; they are not only conducive to survival but to survival with well-being. (Damasio; Looking for Spinoza, 137)

Link to — Pain Neural Pathways Diagram

 

Brain Areas for Pain and Pleasure

Regions involved in producing the emotive responses behind  pleasurable states -- right orbitofrontal cortices, left ventral striatum. (Damasio; Looking for Spinoza, 103)

Regions that were negatively correlated with the pleasurable state -- right amygdala. (Damasio; Looking for Spinoza, 103)

Pain resulted in notable changes of activity in two somatosensory regions (insula and S2). (Damasio; Looking for Spinoza, 103)

Amygdala and its connections to the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia are likely to influence the selection and initiation of behaviors aimed at obtaining rewards and avoiding punishments. (Purves; Neuroscience, 701)

Orbital cortex may be especially involved in working memories about rewards and punishments. (LeDoux; Emotional Brain, 285)

The main brain regions implicated in reward and punishment related learning include the amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, and basal forebrain areas including the hypothalamus. (Rolls; Memory, Attention, and Decision-Making, 121)

Nucleus accumbens -- part of a network of structures involved in feelings of pleasure and reward, whether it is through eating, having sex, or listening to pleasurable music. (Levitin; Your Brain on Music, 89)

Link to — Fear ---- Pleasure

Link to — Limbic System

Further discussion -- Covington Theory of Consciousness