The story of ketamine begins in the 1950s with a synthetic dissociative drug called phencyclidine, or PCP. PCP was developed ...

Ketamine can rapidly relieve treatment-resistant depression and pain, but it is also a drug of abuse. New research shows that ...

Two different versions of the mu-opioid receptor within a cellular membrane illustrate how the receptor changes its conformation to send a signal into the cell. Scientists captured six high-resolution ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Naloxone competes with opioids for the same receptor on the surface of neurons. Matt Rourke/AP Photo Naloxone, also known by the ...

Scientists have known for decades that opioids relieve pain by binding to molecular switches in the brain called mu-opioid receptors. What they didn't know—until now—was exactly what happens next. A ...

Researchers from Tokyo University of Science uncover cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the antidepressant-like effects of the delta opioid receptor agonists, paving the way for its clinical ...

Scientists have discovered a mechanism in the brain capable of suppressing chronic neuropathic pain after nerve damage. In experiments on mice, the key role in this process was played by m-opioid ...

Opioid compounds disrupt sleep through their action on central mu-opioid receptors within key sleep–wake circuits and circadian centres. Activation of these receptors in regions such as the ...

New research suggests that δ-receptor agonists regulate intestinal motility and relieve abdominal pain in a mouse model of irritable bowel syndrome, potentially offering a novel CNS-targeted treatment ...

Naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, is one of the most important drugs in the United States' fight against the opioid crisis. It reverses an opioid overdose nearly instantly, restarting ...