Researchers have known for a while that the pleasure and reward centers of the brain are activated in similar ways by exercise and by dangerous drugs. Yes, think runners’ high. Now, a news release from the University of Missouri reports that researchers at the school have found that activating these pleasure and reward receptors in the brain could provide the “reward†of dangerous drugs without having to consume those drugs. The scientists selectively bred rats that exhibited traits of either extreme activity or extreme laziness. Then they gave chemicals to the rats to either activate or shut off their mu-opioid receptors, the genes in the brains of rats and humans which release dopamine, a pleasure-inducing chemical. Here’s what happened: when the receptors of the extremely energetic rats were activated, those rats were much less inclined to exercise, because, the researchers speculate, they were already plenty high, thanks. At the same time, researchers found that activating and shutting off the receptors in the lazy rats had no significant effect on those rats’ overall activity levels. Now, the interesting part: Researchers found 400 percent more of the reward receptors in the extremely active rats than the extremely lazy rats. No wonder they keep running.
Health, fitness and lifestyle tips for people over 50 who still like to play hard
Monday, April 21, 2025
Addition? Before reading the article, I was very intrigued to know what the correlation between running and arithmetic could possibly be.
Oops, SportGeezer apologizes for a spelling error. He has subtracted the erroneous word.
Well, after reading the article I am convinced that it is not “addition”. Perhaps Mr. Sports Geezer could elaborate.