SUMMARY :
The neurobiological bases of pleasure are examined from the starting point of
current neurosciences data. The study mainly relates, in Man, to the psychic
and behavioral effects of pleasure, as well as to the identification of the
innate neurobiological structures at the origin of pleasure. Ethologic and psychological
data supplement the neurobiological analyses.
In conclusion, it would seem that endogenous opioids are the principal neurotransmitters
of pleasure and that there are specific neural structures in the limbic areas
of the brain. A network of structures, constituted mainly of the septum and
the orbitofrontal cortex, are highly likely to play a major role. The existence
of these structures would make it possible to justify in Man the existence of
behaviors specific to pleasure : hedonic behavior in general, and, in relation
to sexuality, erotic behavior.