Williams D A, Thorn B E
Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1984 Nov;21(5):699-703. doi: 10.1016/s0091-3057(84)80005-2.
Electrical stimulation of the brainstem abolishes pain, while continued stimulation induces tolerance to the analgesic effect. Analgesic drugs producing tolerance also induce physical dependence, suggesting that the phenomenon of tolerance is associated with addiction. There is evidence that the neural mechanism for stimulation-produced analgesia is related to the release of opiate substances within the brain. We therefore propose that repeated or protracted brain stimulation elicits dependence upon the endorphins released by electrical stimulation of the neurons themselves. To investigate this possibility, rats were given repetitive bursts of analgesic electrical brain stimulation for two hours. Immediately thereafter, they were injected with the opiate antagonist, naloxone. Behaviors associated with low grade opiate withdrawal were observed. These data suggest that prolonged analgesic stimulation can result in naloxone-precipitated behaviors similar to the behaviors exhibited during opiate withdrawal.
对脑干进行电刺激可消除疼痛，而持续刺激会导致对镇痛效果产生耐受性。产生耐受性的镇痛药也会导致身体依赖性，这表明耐受性现象与成瘾有关。有证据表明，刺激产生镇痛作用的神经机制与大脑内阿片类物质的释放有关。因此，我们提出，反复或长时间的脑部刺激会引发对神经元自身电刺激释放的内啡肽的依赖。为了探究这种可能性，对大鼠进行了两小时的重复性镇痛性脑部电刺激。此后，立即给它们注射阿片拮抗剂纳洛酮。观察到了与轻度阿片戒断相关的行为。这些数据表明，长时间的镇痛刺激可导致纳洛酮诱发的行为，类似于阿片戒断期间表现出的行为。
