2017/10/09 by Daniel C. Castro, Kent Berridge · 1 citation
Neuroscience · Nursing · Psychology · #Sleep and Wakefulness Research #Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research #Biochemical Analysis and Sensing Techniques #Orbitofrontal cortex #Insula #Psychology #Neuroscience #Insular cortex #Ventral tegmental area #Cortex (anatomy) #Prefrontal cortex #Cognition #Dopamine
paper · doi:10.1073/pnas.1705753114
openalex publication_date 2017/10/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Hedonic hotspots are brain sites where particular neurochemical stimulations causally amplify the hedonic impact of sensory rewards, such as "liking" for sweetness. Here, we report the mapping of two hedonic hotspots in cortex, where mu opioid or orexin stimulations enhance the hedonic impact of sucrose taste. One hedonic hotspot was found in anterior orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and another was found in posterior insula. A suppressive hedonic coldspot was also found in the form of an intervening strip stretching from the posterior OFC through the anterior and middle insula, bracketed by the two cortical hotspots. Opioid/orexin stimulations in either cortical hotspot activated Fos throughout a distributed "hedonic circuit" involving cortical and subcortical structures. Conversely, cortical coldspot stimulation activated circuitry for "hedonic suppression." Finally, food intake was increased by stimulations at several prefrontal cortical sites, indicating that the anatomical substrates in cortex for enhancing the motivation to eat are discriminable from those for hedonic impact.