We’ve all heard about the runner’s high. A big rush of endorphins is released in the brain, and voila, pure happiness ensues. Yes, well, that’s all well and good, but how do endorphins get released in the first place? Does it always require an aerobic activity to initiate a runner’s high? And can’t we just call it an endorphin rush now, since not just runners experience it? Is the runner’s high truly biological, or just an anecdotal, non-scientific euphoria attained merely from the satisfaction of pushing the body’s physical limits?
In 2008, scientists at the Technische Universitat Munchen and the University of Bonn proved scientifically that endorphins are released by the human brain after an endurance workout. The scientists chose ten athletes for the experiment and took brain images using positron emission tomography (PET) of all the subjects before and after a two-hour run. All subjects were injected with a radioactive substance called diprenorphine, a competitor to the brain’s natural opioids.
After two hours of exercise, brain scans of the subjects showed a decreased amount of binding of the diprenorphine, which led to the conclusion that the brain’s natural opioids were binding to the brain’s opioid receptors. The areas of the brain that were releasing the most opioids were also distinguishable within the brain. Most of the brain’s opioids were released in the pre-frontal and limbic regions of the brain, which are known to play a key part in emotional processing.
Perhaps more important than tracking the binding of radioactive diprenorphine in the brain was the difference in emotional disposition for each athlete. Subjects we asked to rate their euphoria and happiness before and after the two-hour run, and scientists could make a direct correlation about how subjects felt to how much of a binding decrease in diprenorphine occurred. The harder the athletes worked out, the happier and more euphoric they felt, and the fewer instances of diprenorphine bound to the brain’s opioid receptors.
Endorphins are released, not surprisingly, in the pain-control centers of the brain. This now leads scientists to research the treatment of pain using the body’s own natural pain killers. Scientists in Bonn are investigating the influence of long-distance running on the processing of pain directly. Scientists are also interested in the effect that endorphins may have on emotional disorders like depression and anxiety, and research in Bonn has already begun on the subject.
The relation between opioid receptors and the tendency for addiction is also under investigation. Some athletes have been known to become addicted to their sport because of the release of endorphins and the follow-on high that results. There may be a direct correlation between this addictive behavior and the amount of opiate receptors in the brain.
So, the “runner’s” high is a real, proven, chemical reaction in the human brain. Endorphins are released by the body as a natural pain killer, and the endorphins then bind to the brain’s opioid receptors. This results in the human emotional state of being happy and euphoric. Endorphin therapy may be used in the future for natural pain management, and as any athlete will tell you, there’s very little to compare to an endorphin high to put a smile on the human face.
Nicole Rodgers blogs about personal fitness and also contributes to a number of blogs about ways to utilize qr code and how to study for the DMV written test.
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