nucleus accumbens
"In this sense, the nucleus accumbens is like a valve on a water faucet, as it prevents an overload of sensory input from reaching our conscious mind. Controlling the flow of information is important for attention and anxiety and for suppressing unwanted noise"
"The nucleus accumbens is a part of the brain associated with the motivation to seek rewards (like cocaine). Sensitizing the nucleus accumbens is like stuffing a Lamborghini V12 inside of a Toyota Prius to see how much of a gas-guzzler it becomes (where the engine is the nucleus accumbens and the fuel efficiency is drug intake)."
METAMIA is a free database of analogy and metaphor. Anyone can contribute or search. The subject matter can be anything. Science is popular, but poetry is encouraged. The goal is to integrate our fluid muses with the stark literalism of a relational database. Metamia is like a girdle for your muses, a cognitive girdle.