CONSTANT CRAVING

Docs: Victory leaves fans wanting more

Local football fiends are still celebrating the New England Patriots’ extraordinary win Sunday — a familiar high for fans of the five-time Super Bowl champions.

But like any good buzz, the blaze of triumph can leave winners wanting more, craving victory with an increasing intensity.

“Too much of it may desensitize your experience of it,” said Dr. Joel Salinas, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. “You can go into junkie mode. The stakes become even higher each time because you want that hit.”

Competitive domination activates the same areas of the brain involved in drug addiction, as it turns out: the “reptilian brain,” an area of the brain stem responsible for primal instincts, and the limbic system, which is the emotion center of the brain.

This leads to a sense of euphoria, and the area associated with memory makes sure to record it and remind us to seek out that feeling in the future.

“It’s a high arousal state that’s pleasant,” Salinas said. “The reward and reinforcement of the brain are involved.”

The sensation of winning is all-consuming. It triggers a complex physiological response that sends us on a hormonal roller coaster — particularly during nerve-fraying games like Sunday’s against the Atlanta Falcons, which resulted in a 34-28 victory in overtime.

Our bodies release bursts of adrenaline that cause our heart rates to spike, our mouths to dry, and beads of sweat to form.

Heightened levels of adrenaline over several minutes lead to the release of cortisol, which increases our blood sugar to make sure there is enough fuel for our bodies to cope with the sudden stress, said Dr. Alan Farwell, chief of endocrinology, diabetes and nutrition at Boston Medical Center.

“For us watching, like when James White scored the touchdown, you get a burst of hormones,” Farwell said. “Then the stress response goes away, and now you’re talking about the pleasure center response.”

Then comes the crash, Farwell said, leaving fans exhausted and, eventually, wanting more.

And Pats fans have grown accustomed to getting their fix.

“Two years ago, we won our fourth Super Bowl down in Arizona,” said Robert Kraft in his victory speech. “I told our fans that was the sweetest one of all.”

But, he said, “This is unequivocally the sweetest.”

Until, of course, the next NFL title.

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER EVANS BACK IN QUACK: Duck boats will carry the Super Bowl champion Patriots through the streets of Boston today, just as they did two years ago.

STAFF PHOTO, ABOVE, BY NANCY LANE; HERALD PHOTO BY RYAN MCBRIDE

HOOKED ON WINNING: Massachusetts General Hospital neurologist Dr. Joel Salinas, above, notes that the intense euphoria that comes from the successes of Chris Hogan, right, and the rest of the Patriots leads fans to want more of it.