Brain stimulation and reward: "pleasure centers" after twenty-five years

"Self-stimulation" is a phenomenon whereby an animal (including a human being) will repeatedly stimulate its brain electrically, sometimes to the point of exhaustion. This phenomenon is robust and readily reproducible in many areas of the brain, particularly in nuclei and fiber tracts known to be monoaminergic, and it has been the basis for the study of reinforcement and learning mechanisms in the brain. The last 25 years of work on intracranial self-stimulation is reviewed with an emphasis on mechanisms, primarily catecholaminergic. Implications for learning and pain mechanisms are discussed.