David Linden is a professor at Johns Hopkins University whose ability to translate complex neuroscience concepts and findings into enjoyable, readable prose is unparalleled. In this book he takes a look at all the systems in the brain and body that, when working well, allow us to naturally embrace and enjoy the lives we are living.

1. The Enchanted Loom
Teasing sturdy threads from
neuroscience masterworks

2. Teasing 10
threads from
David
Linden’s…

3. Thread 1:
Shopping, learning, gambling, prayer, orgasm,
and altruism all trigger pleasure circuits in the
Ventral Tegmental Area deep in the brain.
(pg. 3)

4. Thread 2:
What makes pleasure so compelling is that we
adorn it with associations, emotions, social
meaning, sights, tastes, sounds and smells.
(pg. 26)

5. Thread 3:
A whole lot of
what drugs do
to the mind is
in the mind.
(pg. 42)

6. Thread 4:
Many cultural influences insist that obesity is a
failure of
willpower.
Genetic
evidence
argues
strongly
against
that idea.
(pg. 80)

7. Thread 5:
Fats and sugars
are super-
addictive,
producing
larger jolts to
the pleasure
circuits
together
than either
one alone.
(pg. 84)

8. Thread 6:
Portions of the
prefrontal
cortex
become
deactivated in
people newly
fallen in love.
(pg. 103)

9. Thread 7:
Some men and women can reliably achieve
orgasm
through
thought
alone
without
any
touching
whatsoever.
(pg. 111)

10. Thread 8:
Any sound, smell, sight or memory can become
associated with pleasure and can thereby
become pleasurable in it’s own right.
(pg. 135)

11. Thread 9:
The opposite of love is indifference; the
opposite of pleasure is not pain, but ennui-
a lack of interest in sensation and experience.
(pg. 154)

12. Thread 10:
Knowledge
for the sake of
knowledge can
engage the
pleasure/
reward
circuitry.
Some ideas can
be as addictive
as drugs.
(pgs. 168-169)

13. Image Credits:
Title Page: http://www.rappler.com/science-nature/23193-personality-traits-brain-scans
Slide 3 - http://bit.ly/1KunJ4e
Slide 12 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Inspiration-152043778
Slide 2 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Linden
Slide 6 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/obesity-155829715
Slide 5 - http://theotherlandofoz.com/2014/07/13/happy/
Slide 11 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Boredom-306217907
Slide 10 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Smells-And-Sensations-356651059
Slide 14 - http://www.rappler.com/science-nature/23193-personality-traits-brain-scans
Slide 9 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Orgasm-458607713
Slide 8 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/first-love-429739657
Slide 7 - http://www.deviantart.com/art/Sugar-227111621
Slide 4 - http://oak-art-gallery.deviantart.com/art/PLEASURE-176665796

14. Mark Brady, PhD
TheEnchantedLoom@gmail.com
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