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The mysterious power of pain relief: How do endogenous opioids affect our emotions and behaviors?
Pain and emotion are often intertwined throughout life's journey, making it critical to understand the role of endogenous opioids in our bodies. These chemicals, produced within the body's nervous system, interact with specific opioid receptors and play key roles in mood regulation and pain relief.
Opioid receptors are a group of inhibitory G protein-coupled receptors, which mainly use endogenous opioids such as endorphins, granulorin, etc. as ligands.
These receptors are widely distributed and can be found in the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system. Since the mid-1960s, scientists have begun to realize that opioids do not act randomly on the body but work through specific receptors. In 1971, the first identifying study of opioid receptors was published, confirming that the effects of opioids in the brain were linked to specific receptors.
The structural similarity between these receptors can reach 70%, but their functions in specific situations are completely different.
Opioid receptors are mainly divided into four major categories, including μ (mu), δ (delta), κ (kappa) and new nociceptin receptors. These receptors are jointly responsible for regulating pain perception, emotion and behavior. Mu receptors, in particular, are thought to be crucial in promoting feelings of well-being, trust and contentment. Research shows that these receptors promote social behavior, which also helps to observe the importance of social connections.
These receptors are named based on the ligands with which they were first discovered. The μ-type receptor is named after the first binding to morphine. Activation of μ-type receptors not only reduces pain, but also promotes the stability of interpersonal relationships to a certain extent. How these receptors shape our emotions and behavior is of great interest to scientists.
Through behavioral studies of animals, scientists have discovered that the endogenous opioid system plays an important role in the social behavior of animals such as mice, dogs, and chickens.
Not only that, the presence of opioid receptors is also closely related to different emotional states and behaviors. Studies have found that activation of mu-type receptors can trigger a sense of relaxation, while changes in kappa-type receptors may be related to chronic anxiety. This finding has prompted a rethinking of the role of the opioid system in psychiatric disorders. Scientists have long puzzled over why certain emotional states are more pronounced in mental illness, possibly relying on the regulatory activity of opioid receptors.
Opioid receptors not only play an important role in mood regulation, but are also closely linked to the body's pain perception. When an opioid ligand binds to a receptor, the signaling process prompts chemical changes within the neuron, ultimately leading to a decrease in pain perception. The key to this process is the activation of G protein and the adjustment of the void power method.
When opioids bind to the receptor, the receptor undergoes a conformational change, causing the GDP in the G protein to be released and replaced by GTP, allowing further signal transmission.
This signaling process is not limited to the regulation of pain, but is also associated with long-term memory formation and changes in mood. By delving deeper into this process, scientists have discovered that modulation of opioid receptors may be a new treatment modality for depression and anxiety disorders. Scientists hope that by understanding how these endogenous chemicals work, they can develop more effective treatments and be more friendly to the side effects of opioids.
In general, the importance of endogenous opioids in emotion and behavior cannot be underestimated. Their regulation may have a profound impact on human social behavior, pain perception, and emotional cognition. However, more research is needed to uncover exactly how this mysterious pain-relieving power shapes our emotions and behavior. Perhaps new discoveries in this field can not only help medical progress, but also give us a deeper understanding of our own emotional world?
