Experiencing runner’s high is not on endorphins according to German researchers from the University of Heidelberg.
After a long and often rewarding bout of sustained exercise, such as running or aerobics or swimming, we’re often more euphoric and relaxed. Scientific literature of previous decades placed this feeling on the release of endorphins in the brain as a result of intense physical activity. Acting as naturally produced opiates, endorphins alone cannot account for the floaty feeling dubbed as runner’s high.
Mainly because they cannot transgress the brain-blood flow barrier, researchers felt compelled to zero-in on what else may be at play when we experience runner’s high. What the research team with the Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg medical school found is that other chemicals play a far greater role in inducing the euphoric sensation.
Thus, experiencing runner’s high is not on endorphins, but rather on endocannabinoids. These chemicals are also naturally produced in our brain and are very similar to the compounds found in marijuana. Not surprisingly, they allow the same effect, thus the runner’s high sensation.
The research was conducted using laboratory rats. After they were trained to wheel-run, the rats were subject to analysis. After covering approximately 3 miles with each exercise bout, the researchers found that the rats did show increased levels of both endocannabinoids and endorphins.
Moreover, this group of rats was far less sensitive to light and pain, and their levels of anxiousness had dropped significantly. Rats that were sedentary were found to keep away from light, retreat in dark corners due to heightened anxiousness and generally display low pain tolerance.
To control the results of the experiment, the research team chemically manipulated the receptors of endorphins and endocannabinoids, respectively.
For the group of rats that saw their opiates receptors blocked, the results post-exercise didn’t affect their mood too much. However, the group that saw the endocannabinoids receptors blocked was thrown back into enhanced anxiety and higher sensitivity to pain, regardless of the exercise bout length.
As such, runner’s high was strictly correlated in this study to endocannabinoids. The findings of the study are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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