Scientifically speaking, what is "pleasure"?

Question

As in, what chemicals does it release into the body (if any)?

What about it makes your body feel like it does? And anything else that I'm missing.

-If you can answer this you probably know what I it is that I wish to know exactly.

Answer 1

pleasure is the neurotransmitter response to positive stimuli.  It releases chemicals including serotonin and dopamine.  Dopamine is the actual pleasure chemical while serotonin is the "happy" chemical but they usually occur together.

Answer 2

Very interesting question!

I'm not a neurobiologist, but here's what I could find when browsing specialized publications (source below):

"In neurobiology, pleasure is a competence or function of the reward and motivation circuitries that are imbedded in the central nervous system (CNS). Anatomically, these reward pathways are particularly linked to the brain's limbic system".

The physiology of pleasure is yet being elucidated, and this article I'm citing offers a good review. Dopamine is a key neurotransmitter for the activation and deactivation of these processes. Other important chemicals include endogenous opioids.

Answer 3

Pleasure is defined as a stimulation of the reward centers in the limbic system, especially the lateral and ventralmedial nuclei of the hypothalamus, with less potent centers found in the amygadala, septum, and basal ganglia.

The reward centers were mapped by autostimulation experiments carried out on rats, where the rats had electrodes attached to a particular portion of the brain, and the rat pressing on a paddle stimulated those parts of the brain. "Reward" was defined as a higher frequency of paddle-pressing than control groups (the rat "likes" stimulating those parts), while "punishment" was defined by the opposite (the rat "hated" those parts).

It is hard to define a particular neurotransmitter specifically associated with pleasure, seeing as the reward and punishment centers are intricately connected, however monoamines like dopamine and norepinephrine, and endogenous opoids like beta-endorphine are known to cause euphoria.

Calime's review articles are pretty good, but I would suggest picking up a physiology textbook to brush up on basics.

Answer 4

Pleasure is commonly conceptualized as a positive experience, happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria.

People commonly feel this phenomenon through eating, exercise, sexuality, music, usage of drugs, writing, accomplishment, recognition, service, and any other imaginable activity and even pain (known by its medical terminology masochism). It also refers to "enjoyment" related to certain physical, sensual, emotional or mental experience.

The pleasure center is the set of brain structures, predominantly the nucleus accumbens, theorized to produce great pleasure when stimulated electrically. Some references state that the septum pellucidium is generally considered to be the pleasure center  while others mention the hypothalamus when referring to pleasure center for intracranial stimulation. Certain chemicals are known to stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain. These include dopamine and various endorphins.