Find the motivation to achieve a goal. Feeling that, despite the failure, it is worth continuing to fight. The intense pleasure of a kiss, the pleasure of tasting our favorite dish?All these decisive and important sensations in our daily lives are under the responsibility of the accumbens nucleus, an interesting and exceptional field in our sophisticated brain.
Many times, we are not aware of the existence of certain areas of the brain until someone we know has had an accident and their behavior or the way they deal with life changes completely. However, it is very important to understand a little more how our brain works under normal conditions. Understanding the function of each area of the brain allows us to better understand our behaviors, motivations and impulses.
- There is an accumbens nucleus in each brain hemisphere.
- Setting up a complex reward system.
- Thanks to it we experience pleasure.
- Integrate new learnings and find motivation in our daily lives.
The nucleus accumbens is a brain structure that forms our system of pleasure and reward, without this we would certainly lose strength, this catharsis and that uncontrollable energy that makes us human, part of an environment where all, absolutely all, move according to a set of goals (personal, emotional, sexual, learning, food?).
The nucleus accumbens is an area of the brain unknown to most people and still full of questions for the world of neurosciences, we know that your main function is to activate motivation, in addition to transforming that will, that feeling of optimism and improvement that it often invades us. , in a behavioral response, in action.
To understand where this structure is located, it is necessary to visualize the subcortical area (below the cortex) exactly in an area of interconnection between the caulocked nucleus, the putamen and the septus, so the most interesting aspect of the accumbens nucleus and its Location is the fact that it is part of the dopamine pathway in the brain , this pathway is called the Mesolimbic way and has the function of stimulating us whenever our brain understands that we are living positive and rewarding experiences.
However, as we said earlier, neuroscientists do not yet know all the functions of this structure, until recently it was thought that the accumbens nucleus was only linked to enriching experiences, currently it is also known to be related to adverse or unpleasant situations. And for a very simple reason. When we come across something we don’t like, the nucleus accumbens?To escape this situation.
Its involvement in learning, and even in our sense of survival (it guides us towards what benefits us or prevents us from what hurts us) is undoubtedly as interesting as it is decisive.
Each brain hemisphere has its nucleus accumbens, in this way the reward system orchestrated by dopamine reaches all areas of the brain, we, in turn, find ourselves facing a structure that is part of the so-called central gray nuclei. if at first glance and through the images they may seem quite small, what characterizes the accumbens nucleus is its ability to connect.
In fact, your most important connection is to the limbic system, remember that this area consists of several structures: the thalamus, the hypothalamus and the cerebral amygdala, which in turn is responsible for regulating our emotional world. In this article, how the accumbens nucleus establishes these interesting relationships through its sophisticated anatomy. The accumbens nucleus can be functionally divided into two parts: the cortex and the nucleus.
This is without a doubt the most interesting part of the nucleus accumbens, it is through this area of your anatomy that you establish a connection with the limbic system and also with the frontal lobe, in this way acts as a bridge: receive and send information. Does it also regulate levels of Dopamine, Serotonin, Glutamate?
Now we’re in the middle of the accumbens nucleus. In this area, our motor skills are orchestrated through their connection to the basal ganglia, black substance and motor cortex. Now, the most fascinating thing about this area is that it activates many of the actions and movements that have an emotional meaning. That is, whenever we feel the motivation to get up from the chair to achieve something or achieve a goal, we must remember that behind that impulse is the nucleus accumbens.
We already know that the accumbens nucleus articulates and implements everything related to motivation, pleasure or the ability to succeed, however, and because of its great involvement in the emotional issue, it performs many other functions, in this article we will mention some of them.
In conclusion, we can say that the brain and each of its parts never cease to amaze us, it is a perfect machine where each small area performs a very specific function, however none of them act in isolation. They are all linked, they all depend on each other to work in a fascinating harmony, where the accumbens core is a more than privileged piece.