Positive Feelings Triggered by Brain Connections

Recent scientific studies show that people who experience new things and are also innovative display a stronger interaction between two nervous centers in their brains, namely the ventral striatum and the hippocampus. These regions are responsible for reward systems, and specific memory functions, respectively. The striatum is the part of the brain that tells us how and when to act, in order to maximize the reward we get out of doing the things we like.
 

In other words, one could say that this portion of the brain tells us the things we like to do. It also decides if we like a certain thing or experience the first time we encounter it. The hippocampus is responsible for identifying a place, person, thing or experience as new. It scans its "archives" and then provides the ventral striatum with a feedback, relaying data as to whether the experience is new or not.
 

Stronger interactions between the two centers could lead to some people taking vacations in different places each year, for example. For those going to the same place every time, a sense of boredom may occur. However, the latter type of people can't always put a finger on what's bothering them, as the neural connections that bring about this feeling are created unconsciously.
 

Scientists from Bonn, in Germany, came up with a new method of determining the complexity of the neural pathways between the two centers. Instead of using an older method, where the brains of deceased patients had to be stained in a complex manner, for pathway identifications, Michael X. Cohen and Dr. Bernd Weber developed a technique that revolves around following the water flows inside the brain.
 

While this may sound like looking for a needle in a haystack, this process is actually pretty simple, when you take into account the fact that neurons are impermeable to water, due to their myelin sheets, which protect them from outside influences and allow them to transmit the electrical impulses they carry rapidly and efficiently. By using standard tomography imaging, the scientists are able to observe the way the water moves around the brain, when the patients are still alive, which is a huge step forward.

 
"With this hazard-free method we can work on completely new issues related to the function of the brain," Cohen concluded.