The Compass of Pleasure by David J. Linden | Review

The arrive at of joyfulness by David J. caustic lime ReviewThe Compass of amusementOmobolanle AjoseHumans have a complicated relationship to diversion which we cast a con facial expressionrable amount of time pursuing. Certain forms of joyousness such as rituals involving prayer, music, dance, and meditation argon accorded special status. Intrinsic amusements that weed be initiated or increased by artificial activators like cocaine, heroin, or venial doses of nicotine or alcohol, are located in our whizs transmitting a pleasure buzz from a wide variety of experiences.I chose the record obtain, The Compass of Pleasure because neuroscientist David J. Linden the author, explored the dark side of pleasure. He explained how the human judgement roll in the hay turn pleasures into habituations and habits so overpowering and pervasive that people go forth sacrifice al close to anything just to get a fix. This kind of demeanor makes us wonder why anyone would ruin their h ealth, neglect their family, and spend themselves into poorness all in pursuit of an colony. Linden says it all comes down to a single neuro-chemical dopamine.The terms I learned while reading this book includesStoic, meaning ability to endure pain or hardship without show feelings or complaints.Painasymbolia, also called pain dissociation which is a condition in which pain is letd without unpleasantness.Ventral tegmental area (VTA), which is a collection of neurons situated at the center of themidbrain that sends dopamine releasing axons to other regions of the brain such as the amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, dorsal striatum and hippocampus.Neuroleptics, meaning dopamine receptor antagonists.Linden (2011), describes most experiences in our lives that we find as transcendent, whether illicit vices, socially sanction ritual or social practices as meditative prayer to spark an anatomically and biochemically be pleasure circuit in the brain. He used past research studies as references.Two postdoctoral fellows at McGill University conducted experiments that manifold implanting electrodes in the brains of rats to oxygenise their pleasure circuits. The electrodes were placed in positions that stimulated the median forebrain bundle, the axons that excite the dopamine neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The electrode locations that produced the strongest pleasure were those that most effectively activated the dopamine neurons of the VTA.Another experimental design from the book focused on the stimulation of the brain of a homosexual psychiatric patient using surgically implanted electrodes. Before the patients brain stimulation, he was made to view a film that featured sexual relation between a male and a female. He was sexually negligent and angry about being made to view the film. After the pleasure circuit self- stimulation, he agreed to view the film again during which he became sexually aroused, had an erection and masturbated to orgasm . After he was discharged from the hospital, he had a sexual relationship with a woman for several months. During this period, his homosexual occupation was reduced but did not stop completely.In humans, rats, and other mammals, the retaliate circuit is interwoven with brain centers involved in decision making, think, sensation and memory storage. When we find an experience pleasurable, it sets in motion several processes such as liking the experience and we associate both external and receiveledgeable cues with the experience. These associations allow us to predict how we should behave to repeat or position a value to pleasurable experience so that in future tense we after part determine how much effort we are willing to overstate and the risk we are willing to take to get them.Linden (2011) defined addiction as persistent, compulsive drug use in the grammatical construction of increasingly negative life consequences. He explained that the scientific definition of addicti on is actually rooted in the brainsinabilityto experience pleasure and that the dark side of pleasure is addiction. Addiction is associated with long-lasting changes in the biochemical, electrical, and morphological obligations of connections within the median forebrain pleasure circuit. These changes underlie numerous of the dark sides of addiction, including progressive tolerance, craving, withdrawal and relapse. Therefore, pleasure, addiction and memory are closely related, and directly interconnected.Psychoactive drugs quite a little be used in different social contexts as medicine, phantasmal sacrament, pure recreation, or to define oneself as part of a subgroup. across cultures and over thousands of years of human history, people have consistently anchor ways to alter the function of their brains. Psychoactive drugs like cocaine, alcohol, and opiates strongly activate dopamine action in VTA target regions. Pleasure is central to whatsoever but not all psychoactive dru gs.Certain foods and certain drugs can activate the pleasure circuits. While obesity results from food addiction, food addiction shares umteen properties and biological substrates with drug addiction, including a strong heritable dowry and triggering by stress.Orgasm is another pleasure buzz that may be weaker than cocaine but stronger than food. ( Cite page here) It is a multifaceted experience with dissociable sensory and affective, emotional, and rewarding components. It is fiery, transcendent and unique. Orgasm strongly activates the dopamine-using medial forebrain pleasure circuit. Drugs that modulate dopamine signaling in the brain can regulate libido and orgasm. Epileptic seizures or brain stimulation with electrodes can produce orgasms that are devoid of pleasure or emotional feeling. free rein addiction is associated with reduced activation of the medial forebrain pleasure circuit. patrimonial variants that suppress dopamine signaling, particularly in the medial forebrai n, are associated with gamey rate of gambling addiction. For people who carry these gene variants, their muted dopamine systems lead to blunted pleasure circuits, which in turn affects their pleasure- testing activities.Intensive turn can bring about short term euphoria, reduction of anxiety, and increases in pain threshold. Long term painful stimulus is associated with increased dopamine. Interestingly, kind-hearted giving produces an activation of the pleasure circuit. The interaction of pleasure and associative skill in the medial forebrain pleasure circuit yields both adept and detrimental rewards. The ability of experience to produce long-term changes in the pleasure circuit enables arbitrary rewards and abstract ideas to be felt as pleasurable, a phenomenon that ultimately underlies much of human behavior and culture. This same process is answerable for transforming pleasure into addiction.Reading the compass of pleasure gives an insight on the function of the neurotrans mitter dopamine in the brain and how the dopamine systems in the brain pretend an important role in pleasure seeking and addictive behaviors. I also learned that dopamine is responsible for most of our immoral behaviors and hidden cravings. It is responsible for love, lust, adultery, motivation, attention, and addiction. The denial of pleasure can yield spiritual growth.In practice, one can see beyond a persons behavior, personal history, and environs to understand what goes on in the brain when uncontrollable habits such as addiction present themselves. fellow feeling the interaction between the pleasure circuits and dopamine in the brain help us as health criminal maintenance professionals to understand that addicts are not weak, defective human beings lacking in willpower but are rather people with brains that are chemically deficient. harmonise to Lundy-Ekman (2013, p.239), Parkinsons disease is the death of dopamine producing cells in the sustantia nigra. Occupational ther apy emends mobility and useful status in people with Parkinsons disease. Intense resistance training produces great muscle hypertrophy and functional gains than are produced by standard exercise.According to Linden (2011, p. 127), there are variations in genes turning down the functions of dopamine signaling within the pleasure circuit. These variations in genes let people seek pleasure through different activities. These activities may be meaningful to a client while others may be addictions they may want to stop. Understanding the biology of pleasure circuits may help clinicians such as occupational healer better understand what an individual deems meaningful or pleasurable. Knowledge of forms of pleasure such as rituals, routines , music, dance and even meditations that are of meaningful to a client obtained during an occupational profile, helps therapist in planning interventions for clients. On the other hand, the therapist can also help frame therapeutic interventions to help with addictions.Linden (2011, p.150), further explained that exercises has an anti-depressive effect, shows long term good in mental functions and slows cognitive decline that accompanies normal aging. Occupational therapists endure with a variety of population and this piece of information makes it interesting to know that range of motion exercises and other forms of exercises provided during therapy may be able to improve mental functions and slow cognitive decline in normal aging.dopamine and serotonin are important neurotransmitters in the brain that influence many behaviors and movement patterns such as walking and coordination. Dopamine levels are associated with many neurological conditions such as Parkinsons disease, psychosis and even attention deficits active disorders. Too much or too little dopamine can interfere with cognition, behavior, or motor skills. In practice, occupational therapists work with clients with discordant neurological conditions by evaluating and analyzing the client, the environment and their meaningful occupational performance. Having insight into a clients deficits and its effect on occupational performance is important to therapist because it helps the therapist to be able to plan and provide therapeutic interventions aimed at alter cognition, coordination, mobility and functional status in clients.ReferencesLundy-Ekman, L. (2013). Neuroscience Fundamentals for Rehabilitation. St. Louis, Mo Saunders/ Elsevier Inc.Linden, D. J. (2011). The Compass of Pleasure How our Brains make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, learning, and Gambling Feel so Good. New York, NY Penguin collection Inc.Sturkenboom, I., Thijssen, M., Gons-van, J. E., Jansen, I. (2011). Guidelines for Occupational Therapy in Parkinsons Disease. Retrieved July 14, 2014, from National Parkinson Foundation http//www.parkinson.org/NationalParkinsonFoundation/files/a5/a5c7ef92-a101-4485-96b2-7d81b31a42c9.pdf