1986 Brain Self-Stimulation Case

In 1986, researchers studying brain stimulation reward let a 48-year-old female volunteer control a device that sent pleasurable electrical signals to specific parts of her brain. Once she had access, she spent days doing almost nothing but pressing the button to self-stimulate. She ignored her family, skipped basic hygiene, and kept pressing the button on the device to stimulate herself until she developed an open sore on her finger.

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