- 1.Happiness and the brain Dick Swaab Netherlands Institute for
Neuroscience, Amsterdam. .
2. Reward and Happiness
- Sensory pleasuresare linked tofoodandsex(evolutionary
importance, but also responsible for overpopulation and
obesity).
- Social pleasures :social interactions, romantic love, pair
bonding, maternal love.
- Higher-order pleasures : artistic, scientific monetary,
musical, altru i stic and transcendental pleasures, may lead
tohappiness .
- Also transcendental pathology (TLE, mania)
- Anhedonia:depression, schizophrenia, autism
- Brain mechanisms : genetic and epigenetic factors
3. VMAT-2: associated withself-transcendence scaleof
spirituality (Cloninger) 4. TLE A patient with ecstatic epileptic
attacs saw Jesus. He had an astrocytoma of thetemporal lobe. The
attacs diappeared after temporal lobectomy. 5.
- The air was filled with a big noise, and I thought it had
engulfed me. I have really touched God. He came into me myself;
yes, God exists, I cried, and I don't remember anything else. You
all, healthy people, he said, can't imagine the happiness we
epileptics feel during the second before our attack. I don't know
if this felicity lasts for seconds, hours, or months, but believe
me, for all the joys that life may bring, I would not exchange this
one.
6. Carmelite Nuns
- Re-experience most mystic Christian experience in fMRI.
- (i) activation midtemporal gyrus (~temp. lobe epilepsy; being
one with God).
- (ii) activation Caudate Nucleus (happiness and unconditional
love).
- (iii) activation brainstem, insula and PFC (emotional,
somatoviscerale en autonomic reactions and cortical
conciousness)
- (iv) activation parital cortex (out of body experience:
disturbed integration of somatic-visual-equilibrium
information).
7. Yoga 8. 9. 10. 11.
- Happiness is a physical state of the brain that can
deliberately be induced, e.g. by meditation, ecstatic experiences
of monks and nuns, meditation,
12. 13. 2 times more martial problems, 2 times more unfaithful.
14. 15. OXT/AVP
- OXT/AVP: - released during orgasm,
- - reinforces social signals
- - attachment and pair bonding (via DA).
- .OXT:- mother-infant interaction
- - maternal behavior via DA
- - high levels related to intense romanticlove.
- - increases trust, willingness to invest (viaAmygdala)
16. Coding versus causality
- Pleasure codingin many brain areas (fMRI. PET): orbitofrontal
cortex, anterior cingulate, insula, amygdala, nucleus accumbens,
ventral pallidum, VTA,
- - Cortex deactivated in romantic love and maternal love.
- Some areas aresufficient :stimulation induces a pleasant
feeling.
- - Hedonic hotspots : Nucl. Accumbens, ventral pallidum and
nucleus brachialis.
- - Selfstimulation hotspots : laterallateral hypothalamus,
septum, nucleus accumbens and medial forebrain bundle
- Few areas arenecessary (reward function lost after lesion)
:
- - Ventral pallidum, extended amygdala and subst. innominata for
sweet.
- - Hypothalamus for sexual behavior, pairbonding, maternal
behavior
17. Kent et al., Psychopharmacol. (2008) 199: 457-480
pleasantness odors water during thirst taste and smell monetary
reward Medial OPFC 18. Kent et al.,OFC and pleasantness ratings of
food 19. 20. 21. 22. Coding versus causality
- Pleasure codingin many brain areas (fMRI. PET): orbitofrontal
cortex, anterior cingulate, insula, amygdala, nucleus accumbens,
ventral pallidum, VTA,
- Some areas aresufficient :stimulation e.g. with opiates induces
a pleasant feeling.
- - Hedonic hotspots : Nucl. Accumbens, ventral pallidum and
nucleus brachialis.
- - Selfstimulation hotspots : laterallateral hypothalamus,
septum, nucleus accumbens and medial forebrain bundle
- Few areas arenecessary (reward function lost after lesion)
:
- -ventral pallidum, extended amygdala and subst. innominata for
sweet,
- - Hypothalamus for sexual behavior, pairbonding, maternal
behavior
23. 24. 25. Hedonic hotspots : Nucl. Accumbens, ventral pallidum
and nucleus brachialis.Kent et al., Psychopharmacol.,(2008) 199:
457-480 26. Coding versus causality
- Pleasure codingin many brain areas (fMRI. PET): orbitofrontal
cortex, anterior cingulate, insula, amygdala, nucleus accumbens,
ventral pallidum, VTA,
- Some areas aresufficient :stimulation induces a pleasant
feeling.
- - Hedonic hotspots : Nucl. Accumbens, ventral pallidum and
nucleus brachialis.
- - Selfstimulation hotspots : laterallateral hypothalamus,
septum, nucleus accumbens and medial forebrain bundle
- Few areas arenecessary (reward function lost after lesion)
:
- -ventral pallidum, extended amygdala and subst. innominata for
sweet,
- - Hypothalamus for sexual behavior, pair bonding, maternal
behavior
27. 28. 29. OCD 30. Does DBS produce pure wanting rather than
liking? 31. Coding versus causality
- Pleasure codingin many brain areas (fMRI. PET): orbitofrontal
cortex, anterior cingulate, insula, amygdala, nucleus accumbens,
ventral pallidum, VTA,
- Some areas aresufficient :stimulation induces a pleasant
feeling.
- - Hedonic hotspots* : Nucl. Accumbens, ventral pallidum and
nucleus brachialis.
- - Selfstimulation hotspots : laterallateral hypothalamus,
septum, nucleus accumbens and medial forebrain bundle
- Few areas arenecessary (reward function lost after lesion)
:
- -ventral pallidum, extended amygdala and subst. innominata for
sweet,
- - Hypothalamus for sexual behavior, pair bonding, maternal
behavior
32. * * 33. 2003:no tuber cinereum,no infundibulum,no pituitary
stalk,no corp. mamill., no bottom of 3 rd ventricle(concirmed
byendoscopy) TEMP, CLOCK and MEMORY DIET AGRRESION Not: sex,
attention,sleep Craniopharyngioma,operation, 1990 (than 18 years
old 34. Neurotransmitters and reward systems
- VTA-NA: DA inhibited by cortisol
- Opiates (Stimulation hotspots)
- OXT, vasopressin: (social brain, pair bonding, romantic love,
deficient in autism).
- OXT inhibits amygdala (via GABA) and reduces fear. AVP has
reverse effects.
- 5HT: appetite and mood, decreased in beginning of romantic love
and (other) compulsive disorders.
35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. Anhedonia
- Depression* (cortisol inhibits DA release in VTA)
42. 43. 44. A.Kalsbeek 45. 46. Anhedonia
47. 48. Makris et al., 49. 50. RR >2 for depression,
schizophreniaand obesity, 1.6 for addiction. 51. 52. 53.
Conclusions
- Reward/happiness: genetic & epigenetic factors (e.g.
dysmaturity)
- Pleasure coding: PFC etc etc
- Sufficient for reward: hedonic and selfstimulation
hotspots
- Necessary for reward (Ventr. Pall for sweet, Hypothalamus for
sex and pair bonding)
- Neurotransmitters- VTA-NA: DA, inhibited by cortisol
- - Opiates Stimulation hotspots)
- - Oxytocin, vasopressin (social brain, deficient in autism
- Risk: polymorphisms and environmental factors
54. 55. 56. Biol.Psych. 2008, 64, 192-2002. 57. Glucocorticoid
hypothesis (Atypical depression)
- hypercortisolemia in MD (Gold and Chrousos, 2002)
- Glucocrticoid treatment: 33% (Mitchell and OKeane)(O)
- Cushing syndrome (Gold et al., 1995) (O)
- *SNPs GR gene NR3C1 (West et al., 2006)
- *SNP MR gene (Kuningeas et al., 2007)
- *Inhibitors of cortisol production as anti-depressants(O)
(metyrapone, aminoglutethamide, ketoconazole) Reus et al. 1997;
Murphy, 1997)
- *GR-antagonist (mifepristone (RU486)) for psychotic(I)
depression (Gold 2002, Belanoff et al 2002)
- GR/MR receptor imbalance (Wang et al., 2008) (I)
- Corticosteroids affect DA-system (anhedonia) (Dunlop and
Nemeroff, 2007) (O)
58. 59. Happiness and the brain Dick Swaab Netherlands Institute
for Neuroscience, Amsterdam. 60. Makris et al., 61.
Neurotransmitters and reward systems
- VTA-NA: DA, inhibited by cortisol
- Opiates Stimulation hotspots)
- Oxytocin, vasopressin (social brain, deficient in autism
62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. The
neurobiology of depression Dick Swaab Netherlands Institute for
Neuroscience, Amsterdam. Depression as a multi-causal
networksyndrome 76. L-Dopa 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82.