Cellular signals for pain fine tune neurons' sensitivity to opiods

(Carnegie Mellon University) At the cellular level, pain and pain relief are caused by two different signaling pathways. But the two pathways aren't necessarily independent of one another, according to a study published by Carnegie Mellon researchers in Cell Reports.The researchers determined the mechanism by which cellular signals for pain fine-tunes neurons' sensitivity to opioids, medications that relieve pain. The finding could help researchers better understand pain and addiction.