According to Ori and Rom Brafman in their book “Sway”, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conducted a rather interesting experiment. Participants and placed in an MRI were assembled like a machine and given a computer monitor and joystick. Then they played a game.

Every time a circle appeared on the screen and they removed it, they earned money. They would earn $1 for a circle with one line through it, $5 for one with two lines through it, etc. If they appeared squares, they had to be liquidated as well, or else they would lose a certain amount of money. Just like the circles made money, different types of squares erased different amounts of money if they weren’t removed. The triangles finally appeared, but they had no monetary consequences. Participants were shown an updated tab of their winnings as they played.

The interesting thing is that every time a circle or a square (money won or lost) appeared, a region of the brain called nucleus accumbens illuminated However, when the triangles appeared, the region remained calm. This nucleus accumbens It’s the region of the brain that’s associated with what scientists call the “pleasure center.”

Watching the Phillies win the World Series, opening a Porsche on a winding road, or rolling dice in Las Vegas are some of the things that stir the center of pleasure. Instead, a shot of tequila, or a line of cocaine, will stir up the pleasure center.

The authors go on to say that the MRI studies surprised researchers “because they revealed that the pleasure center is also where we react to financial compensation. And the more money is at stake, the more the pleasure center is turned on. A monetary reward is, biologically speaking, like a little line of cocaine.”

The moral of the story is to keep ourselves in check. Trade for dollar bills and not emotions… or you may have a very expensive habit on your hands.