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Euphoria (/juːˈfɔːriə/ ⓘ yoo-FOR-ee-ə) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness.[1][2] Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and dancing, can induce a state of euphoria.[3][4] Euphoria is also a symptom of certain neurological or neuropsychiatric disorders, such as mania.[5] Romantic love and components of the human sexual response cycle are also associated with the induction of euphoria.[6][7][8] Certain drugs, many of which are addictive, can cause euphoria, which at least partially motivates their recreational use.[9]
Hedonic hotspots – i.e., the pleasure centers of the brain – are functionally linked. Activation of one hotspot results in the recruitment of the others. Inhibition of one hotspot results in the blunting of the effects of activating another hotspot.[10][11] Therefore, the simultaneous activation of every hedonic hotspot within the reward system is believed to be necessary for generating the sensation of an intense euphoria.[12]
- ^ Bearn J, O'Brien M (2015). "Chapter Ten - "Addicted to Euphoria": The History, Clinical Presentation, and Management of Party Drug Misuse". "Addicted to Euphoria": The History, Clinical Presentation, and Management of Party Drug Misuse. International Review of Neurobiology. Vol. 120. Academic Press. pp. 205–33. doi:10.1016/bs.irn.2015.02.005. ISBN 9780128029787. PMID 26070759.
Eating, drinking, sexual activity and parenting invoke pleasure, an emotion that promotes repetition of these behaviors, are essential for survival. Euphoria, a feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness, is an amplification of pleasure, aspired to one's essential biological needs that are satisfied. People use party drugs as a shortcut to euphoria. Ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), γ-hydroxybutyric acid, and ketamine fall under the umbrella of the term "party drugs," each with differing neuropharmacological and physiological actions.
{{cite book}}:|journal=ignored (help) - ^ Alcaro A, Panksepp J (2011). "The SEEKING mind: primal neuro-affective substrates for appetitive incentive states and their pathological dynamics in addictions and depression". Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 35 (9): 1805–1820. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.03.002. PMID 21396397. S2CID 6613696.
Recent human data have demonstrated that the SEEKING brain circuitry, as predicted, is involved in the emergence of a characteristic appetitive affective state, which may be described as "enthusiastic positive excitement" or "euphoria" (Drevets et al., 2001; Volkow and Swanson, 2003) and that do not resemble any kind of sensory pleasure (Heath, 1996; Panksepp et al., 1985) ... However, in our view, cognitive processes, are only one "slice of the pie", and gamma oscillations may be more globally viewed as the overall emotional–motivational neurodynamics through which the SEEKING disposition is expressed, accompanied by a feeling of excitement/eurphoria (not 'pleasure') that is evolutionarily designed to achieve a diversity of useful outcomes
- ^ "Key DSM-IV Mental Status Exam Phrases" (Content adapted from "Brain Calipers, 2nd Edition, David J. Robinson, MD".). Gateway Psychiatric Services. Mood and Affect. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
- ^ Cohen EE, Ejsmond-Frey R, Knight N, Dunbar RI (2010). "Rowers' high: behavioural synchrony is correlated with elevated pain thresholds". Biol. Lett. 6 (1): 106–8. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0670. PMC 2817271. PMID 19755532.
This heightened effect from synchronized activity may explain the sense of euphoria experienced during other social activities (such as laughter, music-making and dancing) that are involved in social bonding in humans and possibly other vertebrates.
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NHM-DA stims, opioids, nicotine, cannabinoids, inhalants, corticoidswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Georgiadis JR, Kringelbach ML (July 2012). "The human sexual response cycle: brain imaging evidence linking sex to other pleasures" (PDF). Prog. Neurobiol. 98 (1): 49–81. doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2012.05.004. PMID 22609047. S2CID 3793929. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016 – via Hedonia.
Strong feelings of pleasure and euphoria, as well as marked alterations in cognitive processing, self-referential thought, and physiological arousal are defining features of sexual consummation, especially during orgasm (Mah and Binik, 2001).
- ^ Blum K, Werner T, Carnes S, Carnes P, Bowirrat A, Giordano J, Oscar-Berman M, Gold M (March 2012). "Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll: hypothesizing common mesolimbic activation as a function of reward gene polymorphisms". Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. 44 (1): 38–55. doi:10.1080/02791072.2012.662112. PMC 4040958. PMID 22641964.
Early-stage romantic love can induce euphoria, is a cross-cultural phenomenon, and is possibly a developed form of a mammalian drive to pursue preferred mates. ... Under normal conditions, it is not surprising that sexual activity is physiologically regulated by the reward circuitry of the brain, specifically by dopaminergic pathways (see Figure 1). Moreover, the early stages of a new, romantic relationship can be a powerful and absorbing experience. Individuals in new romantic relationships report feeling euphoric and energetic. They also become emotionally dependent on, desire closeness with, and have highly focused attention on their partner (Reynaud et al. 2010; Young 2009). Human neuroimaging studies have shown that feelings experienced during the early stages of a romantic relationship are associated with neural activations in several reward-system and affect-processing regions of the brain (Young 2009; Aron et al. 2005; Bartels & Zeki 2000; Mashek, Aron & Fisher 2000).
- ^ Jankowiak, William; Paladino, Thomas (2013). "Chapter 1. Desiring Sex, Longing for Love: A Tripartite Conundrum". In Jankowiak, William R. (ed.). Intimacies: Love and Sex Across Cultures. Columbia University Press. p. 13. ISBN 9780231508766 – via Google Books.
These emotional states may also be manifested behaviorally as "labile psychophysical responses to the loved person, including exhilaration, euphoria, buoyancy, spiritual feelings, increased energy, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, shyness, awkwardness ... in the presence of the loved person" (Fisher 1998:32). The presence of similar neurological mechanisms and brain patterns may account for the ability to readily identify when someone is romantically involved or erotically excited (Fisher 1998:32; Fisher 1995).
- ^ Roache JD (2010). "Role of the Human Laboratory in the Development of Medications for Alcohol and Drug Dependence". In Johnson BA (ed.). Addiction Medicine: Science and Practice. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 133. ISBN 9781441903389 – via Google Books.
It has been observed that drugs of abuse as diverse as alcohol, barbiturates, opiates, and psychomotor stimulants all share a profile of psychoactive effects characterized as euphoria. It is generally accepted that euphoria is at least a partial explanation why these drugs are abused.
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