The Runner's High: Opioidergic Mechanisms in the Human Brain (original) (raw)

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1Nuklearmedizinische Klinik, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, 81675 München, Germany

2Radiologische Universitätsklinik, FE Klinische Funktionelle Neurobildgebung, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, 53127 Bonn, Germany

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1Nuklearmedizinische Klinik, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, 81675 München, Germany

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1Nuklearmedizinische Klinik, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, 81675 München, Germany

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1Nuklearmedizinische Klinik, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, 81675 München, Germany

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4Klinik für Anaesthesiologie, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, 81675 München, Germany

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Published:

21 February 2008

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Henning Boecker, Till Sprenger, Mary E. Spilker, Gjermund Henriksen, Marcus Koppenhoefer, Klaus J. Wagner, Michael Valet, Achim Berthele, Thomas R. Tolle, The Runner's High: Opioidergic Mechanisms in the Human Brain, Cerebral Cortex, Volume 18, Issue 11, November 2008, Pages 2523–2531, https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhn013
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Abstract

The runner's high describes a euphoric state resulting from long-distance running. The cerebral neurochemical correlates of exercise-induced mood changes have been barely investigated so far. We aimed to unravel the opioidergic mechanisms of the runner's high in the human brain and to identify the relationship to perceived euphoria. We performed a positron emission tomography “ligand activation” study with the nonselective opioidergic ligand 6-_O_-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-6-_O_-desmethyldiprenorphine ([18F]FDPN). Ten athletes were scanned at 2 separate occasions in random order, at rest and after 2 h of endurance running (21.5 ± 4.7 km). Binding kinetics of [18F]FDPN were quantified by basis pursuit denoising (DEPICT software). Statistical parametric mapping (SPM2) was used for voxelwise analyses to determine relative changes in ligand binding after running and correlations of opioid binding with euphoria ratings. Reductions in opioid receptor availability were identified preferentially in prefrontal and limbic/paralimbic brain structures. The level of euphoria was significantly increased after running and was inversely correlated with opioid binding in prefrontal/orbitofrontal cortices, the anterior cingulate cortex, bilateral insula, parainsular cortex, and temporoparietal regions. These findings support the “opioid theory” of the runner's high and suggest region-specific effects in frontolimbic brain areas that are involved in the processing of affective states and mood.

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Topic:

• positron-emission tomography
• exercise
• emotions
• euphoria
• ligands
• opioid receptor
• brain
• mood
• opioids
• insula of reil
• anterior cingulate gyrus

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