They mimic substances that are naturally produced by the body. Mood-altering drugs affect the release and absorption of dopamine, creating a sense of pleasure. "If it's going to be beneficial to your survival, that reward pathway would be activated," she says. Eating, drinking, and having sex all set these neurons firing. This pleasure pathway has evolved to reward behavior that benefits survival, both of the individual and the species, says Linda Gorman, teaching professor in the Krieger School's Neuroscience Program. When the neuron fires, the ends of the axons release the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is then absorbed by neurons in other regions of the brain. The long, spindly axons of these neurons reach into other parts of the brain, as the roots of one tree wrap around those of another. When people-or rats-feel pleasure, neurons activate in a part of the brain called the ventral tegmental area. His book, The Compass of Pleasure (Viking, 2011), explains how experiences as seemingly distinct as drug use, sex, exercise, and altruism have similar effects on the brain. "It's not like I can point to a place in the brain and say, 'Here's what happens when you have fun.'"īut Linden, a neuroscience professor, knows a lot about a concept closely related to fun-pleasure. Linden, sitting in his ninth-floor office at the School of Medicine.
"It's not a term that scientists use, ever," says David J. Just what is fun, anyway? What happens in the brain when we have fun? Is there some evolutionary explanation of fun? And what happens if we don't get enough of it? These are tricky questions to pose to a scientist.įun is vague. In the words of Zippy the Pinhead, "Are we having fun yet?" Even kids seem busy these days, their afternoons packed with practices and lessons. Ours is an era of seemingly limitless opportunities for fun: costumed bar crawls and bouncy castles, hoverboards and home brewing, blue-and-green mermaid hair, flash mobs, milkshakes adorned with donuts and rock candy.Īnd yet, everyone seems perpetually stressed, overbooked, and uptight.
#Lighten up how to#
I've got work to do: papers to grade, stories to research, laundry to fold.īut then I stop and think: What better way than this to spend a spring day? Have I forgotten how to enjoy the journey? Have I forgotten how to have fun? The walk, which normally takes 10 minutes, is stretching into a half hour. "Stop being a cat! Stop running around! We're supposed to be going to the playground!" "She's been a cat most of the week," my friend explains.Ĭharlie has had enough.
Next she's a cat, stalking down the sidewalk on all fours, batting her paws and hissing. She tugs a branch, unleashing a shower of cherry blossoms. She scrambles up a hill to pluck a fistful of violets and dandelions. My son, who just turned 3, grips my hand, focused on getting to the playground as fast as his stubby legs will carry him.īut 5-year-old Gabriela has other ideas. It's a brisk spring afternoon and my son, Charlie, and I are walking to a park with an old friend and her daughter.
By Julie Scharper / Published Summer 2016