New Information about Body’s Stress Response

(Ivanhoe Newswire) – The brain has the ability to moderate and reverse some of the cellular effects of stress, according to a new study.

Researchers from the Scripps Research Institute, the National Institutes of Health, and the University of Camerino in Italy, studied the nociceptin system, the body’s stress-response system. They found the neurotransmitter nociceptin works with receptors known as NOPs to dial down and reduce stress-activity in the brains of rats. There was evidence that the nociception/NOP relationship can bring the brain back to “normal” after stress. Researchers hope the new findings can provide therapeutic target for anxiety disorders in the future.

For more information, go to: http://www.scripps.edu/news/press/2014/20140108roberto.html

SOURCE: Journal of Neuroscience, January 2014