Science & care
Pleasure is more than one molecule.
A careful look at choice, reward and well-being — without turning papers into promises.
≠This site does not measure dopamine, promise happiness or provide treatment. No clinical study establishes a benefit from this project.
01
fMRI study
Choice involves anticipation
What was observed
Brain responses to product preference and prices helped predict purchasing decisions in an experimental task.
What this does not show
fMRI does not directly measure dopamine release. This study does not establish health benefits from shopping or a dopamine increase from this site.
Knutson, Rick, Wimmer, Prelec & Loewenstein (2007). Neural predictors of purchases. Neuron 53(1), 147–156.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2006.11.010
Read the original source ↗02
Three experiments
Choice and perceived control
What was observed
Across three experiments, making purchasing choices reduced residual sadness, consistent with a restored sense of control.
What this does not show
It establishes neither lasting happiness, treatment effects nor dopamine changes. It does not justify spending to manage distress; debt and compulsive shopping may worsen things.
Rick, Pereira & Burson (2014). The benefits of retail therapy: Making purchase decisions reduces residual sadness. Journal of Consumer Psychology 24(3), 373–380.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcps.2013.12.004
Read the original source ↗03
Neuroscience review
Wanting is not the same as liking
What was observed
The review distinguishes motivation to pursue a reward from the pleasure of receiving it. Dopamine matters for “wanting”; it is not a simple happiness meter.
What this does not show
Clicks, fictional purchases and credits cannot establish dopamine levels. Dopamine is a creative metaphor for this project.
Berridge & Kringelbach (2015). Pleasure systems in the brain. Neuron 86(3), 646–664.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.02.018
Read the original source ↗04
Public health — WHO
The risks are not fictional
What was observed
WHO describes gambling-related financial, mental-health and relationship harms, including harms below a clinical diagnostic threshold.
What this does not show
Valueless credits prevent monetary loss within this site, but do not prove the simulation harmless or that it reduces urges to gamble elsewhere.
If shopping or gambling is causing distress or loss of control, stop and seek professional support or a local health service.