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Morten L. Kringelbach
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The Pleasure Center: Trust Your Animal Instincts 1st Edition

by Morten L. Kringelbach (Author)
3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 12 ratings
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Many people believe that pleasure and desire are obstacles to reasonable and intelligent behavior. In The Pleasure Center, Morten Kringelbach reveals that what we desire, what pleases us--in fact, our most base, animalistic tendencies--are actually very important sources of information. They motivate us for a good reason. And understanding that reason, taking that reason into account, and harnessing and directing that reason, can make us much more rational and effective people. In exploring the many facets of pleasure, desire and emotion, Kringelbach takes us through the whole spectrum of human experience, such as how emotion fuels our interest in things, allowing us to pay attention and learn. He investigates the reward systems of the brain and sheds light on some of the most interesting new discoveries about pleasure and desire. Kringelbach concludes that if we understand and accept how pleasure and desire arise in the complex interaction between the brain's activity and our own experiences, we can discover what helps us enjoy life, enabling us to make better decisions and, ultimately, lead happier lives.
Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    0195322851
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0195322859
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    November 14, 2008
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches
  8. Print length
    304 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Pleasure Center takes us on an illuminating journey into a crucial essence of human experience. It is a superb account and a lot of fun to read. This lively book captures the best scientific understanding of what pleasure is and how brains create it. Kringelbach is himself a prominent neuroscientist and is the rare brilliant expert who can translate laboratory discoveries into everyday life. He opens up the topic, from the latest findings on human feelings caused by stimulating an electrode deep inside an awake brain, to classic studies of psychology, evolution and neuroscience. This book is sure to inform and delight."--Kent Berridge, Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan

"In this highly accessible survey, Morten Kringelbach describes the brain's main emotional cogwheels, and explains how pleasures and pains--sometimes merely anticipated or imagined--shape our mental decisions. From the delights of chocolate to the depths of depression, this broad, fast-paced book should fascinate all readers interested in the mysteries of the emotional brain."--Stanislas Dehaene, Professor of Experimental Cognitive Psychology, College de France

"Morten Kringelbach is both a talented journalist and neuroscientist. His interests move effortlessly between philosophy, anthropology, psychology, and the brain sciences. In The Pleasure Center, an eclectic range of ideas and science introduce the reader to the excitement in the neuroscience community about the revelations of the brain systems' secrets underpinning pleasure, desire, and ultimately happiness, or the lack of it."--Sue Iversen, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Oxford University

"Despite its catchy title, this book is not a hedonistic celebration but a convincing case for the idea that, far from being reasons antithesis, emotional experiences of pleasure and pain are crucial to learning, making up the currency for our decisions and actions... Kringelbach manages an informative and entertaining primer for both novices and more knowledgeable readers, introducing classic experiments (Harlows monkeys, the metal rod in Phineas Gages frontal lobes) and covering work at the frontier of brain research (including a new view of the orbitofrontal cortex processing emotions and making rational choices, like when placing a bet). In 11 chapters, Kringelbach explores how the three fundamental elements of pleasurewanting, liking and learningunderlie human decision making as well as the subjective experience of pleasure, how memory works, the addictive effects of unpleasant drugs (wanting without liking) and mental illness."--Publisher's Weekly

"[T]his book is way above average for how seriously it treats the actual science behind its argument. I learned a great deal from it."--Marginal Revolution

"... far from being a dry medical overview, Kringelbach takes these neurological systems behind our desire, and makes them understandable and interesting."--Sacramento Book Review

"Kringelbach has created a wide-ranging and very accessible introduction to cognitive science that focuses on pleasure, desire, and emotions generally. The result of Kringelbach's craft is a fast-moving book that should inform and please (in equally large helpings) any educated readers with limited or no prior knowledge of the area... a very interesting and often exciting foray into the current state of research on how our brains work."--Metapsychology

". . . covers a wide range of psychological concepts, and provides a concise summary of the elements that constitute pleasure and desire. The Pleasure Center is a fast-paced book that will capture the attention of anyone interested in the emotional aspects of the human experience . . . the author does an outstanding job of detailing how the elements of pleasure, desire, and emotion come together to significantly influence our lives. Furthermore, Kringelbach sheds light on how an individual's assessment of a situation or life event is shaped by experiencing various emotions and feeling states. The Pleasure Center reflects Kringelbach's passion for science and is an excellent introduction into the wonderful world of neuroscience and psychology. It is an ideal book for readers who are just developing an interest in these disciplines."
--Victoria Anderson-Barnes and Jack W. Tsaoa in the Journal of Neurological Sciences

"This is the accomplishment of The Pleasure Center: Trust Your Animal Instincts. Morten Kringelbach takes us back to the big questions of what makes us happy and what we find desirable....The Pleasure Center demonstrates how psychological science can address interesting questions that are useful to humanity."--PsycCRITIQUES

"...a concise, illuminating and...charming account of some of the science behind a central component of human nature." -- Quarterly Review of Biology

"Starting from the...premise that cognition and reason cannot exist without emotion..., the narrative that follows is a concise, illuminating and, I would say, charming account of some of the science behind a central component of human nature."--Qazi Rahman as reviewed in The Quarterly Review of Biology

Book Description

A fascinating argument in favor of using pleasure, desire, and emotion as guides to a happier life

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (November 14, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0195322851
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195322859
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 12 ratings

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Morten L. Kringelbach

Morten L. Kringelbach

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Customer reviews

3.4 out of 5 stars
3.4 out of 5
12 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Phyllis M. Newnham
5.0 out of 5 stars The Pleasure Center
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2010
Verified Purchase
I am always interested in anything to do with the brain.From this book I am learning how pleasure and pain shape our mental decisions.It is a book which can be used for reference purposes as well as good bedside reading.
2 people found this helpful
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Jaco's Friend
1.0 out of 5 stars poor writing and poor science
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2011
Verified Purchase
The reviewer who gave a 1-star rating (profoundly poor writing) gives a concise synopsis. Shoddy writing and poor discipline. It's OK and expected to inject opinions, some very speculative, in science books targeted at a lay audience, but the book has numerous scientific inaccuracies which is a no-no. Most problematic: the book contains little substantive information on its stated subject matter -- the pleasure center. A few (mostly forced) sentences are added at the end of each chapter to try to drag in some aspect of pleasure. Seems to indicate the author knew what shoddy output he was producing, but did it anyway. Anyone who reviews his research results might be wise to do so extra-extra carefully since poor workmanship and low standards are not easily compartmentalized.
6 people found this helpful
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Alexander Rios
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent. Fuel for Epicureans. Enjoy!
Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2017
Verified Purchase
We humans are not very good at predicting which desires, being fulfilled, will bring us the most enjoyment. Our imagination is just not very good at predicting consequences.Better than using imagination is to ask ourselves if we enjoyed after choosing/avoiding. Vanity fails at making us happy. Friends, family, security, food, drink, socializing, playing and sex are still the top contenders. Happiness as maximal enjoying and minimal desiring, is still the plan. Plan plan plan.
One person found this helpful
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S. Nakajima
5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative!
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2009
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Evolutionary psychology has not much literature on the nature of emotions. This book is a well-researced and well-written. Strongly recommended.
3 people found this helpful
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Scott Walton
1.0 out of 5 stars Very little value, really disappointed. Will try to get my money back.
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2018
Verified Purchase
The chapters make no sense. The paragraphs don't seem to connect at all. The author kind of stumbles through the subject like someone who forgot to prepare for a speech and decides to just make it up as they go. Random, derivative, void of original thought - I'm actually surprised it was published.
One person found this helpful
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Anthony Landreth
1.0 out of 5 stars Profoundly poor writing
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2010
Save your money. This book reads more like a collection of class notes taken by a cogsci undergrad than a book-length treatment of anything in particular. The chapters are very poorly organized, and the author does little to exploit his knowledge of the subject. You will find very little discussion of pleasure in this book, or of anything related to the chapter titles. I find it very hard to understand how Oxford could allow a book of this quality to go to press. I would recommend taking a look at Kringelbach's scientific papers, but not this book.
2 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars "the emotions of good and evil is nothing else but the emotions of pleasure and pain."
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2013
I found this book to be an interesting blend of philosophy and neurology. To me the take home point is the differential of wanting and desire. I believe people fall prey to passing neurological habit which prompts them to pursue that which they do not in fact desire, and this book presents some interesting alternative way to evaluate that which really gives us pleasure. This author takes the interesting proposition that true pleasure is an innately moral experience in that it fulfills an evolutionary drive that rewards empathy. The neurology is pretty basic, but I found it useful.
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AVA
1.0 out of 5 stars Not the right book
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2021
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Not the book I was expecting different cover and labels
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Top reviews from other countries

dora
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 3, 2015
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GREAT BOOK
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Womble
1.0 out of 5 stars Poor content and structure
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 20, 2011
Verified Purchase
I had high hopes of this book. I was hoping to find descriptions of mechanisms linking pleasure, pain, motivation and emotion. In short, to find some insights into why we do what we do. Instead, I found plenty of descriptions of the 'regions of the brain' variety which are about as insightful as knowing that the engine gets warm when you drive. I found long segments that seemed to have no relation to the subject matter at all such as: stuttering, dyslexia or a history of the prohibitions against marijuana. Many of the the pieces tail off without any conclusion except that, so far, science has not reached one. The 'happiness lessons' seem often to have no genesis in the preceeding chapter. I was swayed by the comments on the jacket cover ("superb account", "fun to read", "highly accessible" etc...) and was expecting something like Jonathan Haidt's 'Happiness Hypothesis' but I wish I had given more credence to the negative review on amazon.com and not given this book the benefit of the doubt.
5 people found this helpful
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