When they drank wine from the $90 bottle, there was more activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex—the mOFC—than when they drank the same wine with a $10 label affixed. The mOFC is a part of the brain whose activity is correlated with pleasure of various kinds—not just tastes but aromas and music. This experiment suggests that it’s also a part of the brain that’s influenced by the story you’ve been told about the pleasure you’re feeling and by the preconceptions this story gives you. The $90 story gets this part of the brain more excited than the $10 story.
