cannabisnews.com: Brain Responds To Pain With MJ - Like Substance Brain Responds To Pain With MJ - Like Substance Posted by FoM on October 18, 1999 at 20:55:27 PT By Jess Fisher, Brown Daily Herald, Brown U. Source: U-WIRE Brown researchers have discovered that a person's brain modulates pain by releasing a cannabinoid similar to delta-9-THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. In the words of researcher and graduate student Susan M. Huang, "the brain makes its own marijuana." Professor of Psychology J. Michael Walker led the study, the findings of which were published in the Oct. 12 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The cannabinoid, called anandamide, dulls pain in a person's body. When a person is cut, for example, their body releases more anandamide to help deal with the extra pain. This discovery could explain why different people have different pain thresholds, Huang said. Depending on how much anandamide a person's body releases, they may experience pain in different degrees. However, much more research is needed to verify these hypotheses. As for the effects of this discovery on the marijuana-legalization debate, policy-makers could easily ignore the study, like many similar reports before it, Walker said. "I work in the scientific community," Walker said, "and I've noticed that there's a political theater that invokes science only occasionally." Walker said that the study's recommendations for marijuana use are worth looking at, but he also said that "you don't want people to injure their foot and say 'I'm going to go smoke some weed.' That's not the first step. ... Go take some Advil." Researchers discovered the function of anandamide with the help of a new technique called microdialysis. They collected and measured anandamide that had dissociated from the nerve cell receptors in brains of anesthetized rats. Anandamide is produced in a region of the brain called the periaqueductal gray (PAG). Using a mass spectrometer, researchers were able to detect tiny amounts of anandamide floating in the PAG's extracellular space. Walker is grateful to Brown for buying the spectrometer, a tool that he said "cost more than my first house." The research team did most of the work on this project in the last six or seven months, although Walker said he has been working on it for about 10 years. Prior to their use of the mass spectrometer, researchers knew that the brain's cannabinoids caused changes in behavior but weren't aware of the cannabinoids' effect on pain modulation. The next step, according to Huang, is to find out more about the pathways connecting the brain's release of anandamide and the area of the body experiencing pain. "We hope to look more into the mechanisms that mediate this response," Huang said. Besides Walker and Huang, researchers included M. Clara Sa"udo-Pe"a, assistant research professor of psychology, and Nicole M. Strangman GS. The project was financed by the U.S. Public Health Service and National Institutes of Health. The National Institute on Drug Abuse also helped the University buy the mass spectrometer. Updated 12:00 PM ET October 18, 1999 (C) 1999 Brown Daily Herald via U-WIRE Copyright © 1995-1999 Excite Inc. Related Articles:ScienceDaily Magazine http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/10/991013074947.htmBrain Releases Marijuana-Like Substance - 10/13/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3267.shtmlThe original news release can be found at: http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/1999-00/99-031.html Study Shows How Marijuana Affects Pain - 10/12/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3251.shtmlMarijuana-Like Substance in Brain Relieves Pain - 10/11/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3243.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by erica hart on November 15, 1999 at 05:22:08 PT: Very Interesting hi. i just wanted to say how interesting this article was. i am always saying that if i do not become a vet i would like to do research and studies of effects (good and bad) of marijuana. i must say i do enjoy marijuana but i am also interested in learning about it. keep up the good work. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: