Opiate Addiction and Your Pain and Reward System
Opioid-based prescription drugs attach to receptors in the brain’s opioid system, a system that controls our reactions of pain, reward and addiction. The three receptors that opiate painkillers bind to are the mu, delta and kappa receptors and by doing so they block your experience of pain and simultaneously signal the reward pathways which trigger addictive behavior.
Each of these receptors have been cloned, creating an interesting combination of studies in mice to see the effects of each receptor individually and in concert. It was found that the mu-opioid receptor specifically triggers the reward system, which is most likely the trigger for addictive behavior. Take it away and neither the reward pathway nor the addictive behavior is signaled. It was also found that analgesic or pain killing properties of opiate painkillers disappeared as well.
In future studies, it’s likely that blocking the mu receptor will be explored to discover more ways to treat drug addiction. In the meantime, that’s basically what Suboxone does: binds to opiate receptors and blocks pain without so strongly triggering the reward system and allowing your body to gradually get used to the absence of opiates without violent physical withdrawal.
For more information about opiate addiction and the pain and reward center, check out European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
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