A Potential Role for mu-Opioids in Mediating the Positive Effects of Gratitude

Henning, Max; Fox, Glenn R.; Kaplan, Joseph; Damásio, Hanna; Damásio, António R.

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00868

Cited by 24 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 59 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Gratitude, the affirmation and recognition of benefits received, is both a personal good and a social good, valuable for the person who possesses it and valuable for society at large. Gratitude is an essential element of human flourishing, critical to harmonious functioning (Henning et al, 2017). As the positive emotional response to benevolence, it is perhaps the quintessential positive trait, an amplifier of goodness in oneself, the world, and others.…”

Section: Gratitudementioning

confidence: 99%

Positive psychology in a pandemic: buffering, bolstering, and building mental health

Waters

Algoe²,

Dutton

et al. 2021

The Journal of Positive Psychology

238

163

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As the COVID-19 global health disaster continues to unfold across the world, calls have been made to address the associated mental illness public crisis. The current paper seeks to broaden these calls by considering the role that positive psychology factors can play in buffering against mental illness, bolstering mental health during COVID-19 and building positive processes and capacities that may help to strengthen future mental health. The paper explores evidence and applications from nine topics in positive psychology that support people through a pandemic: meaning, coping, selfcompassion, courage, gratitude, character strengths, positive emotions, positive interpersonal processes and high-quality connections. In times of intense crisis, such as COVID-19, it is understandable that research is heavily directed towards addressing the ways in which people are wounded and weakened. However, this need not come at the expense of also investigating the ways in which people are sustained and strengthened.

show abstract

Section: Gratitudementioning

confidence: 99%

Positive psychology in a pandemic: buffering, bolstering, and building mental health

Waters

Algoe²,

Dutton

et al. 2021

The Journal of Positive Psychology

238

163

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This complex interaction between touch and affective regulation is mediated by the Brain Opioid Theory of Social Attachment (BOTSA), which states oxytocin as a predominant neuropeptide in social interactions of mammals (MacHin & Dunbar, 2011). This process is all the more complicated in primates with the involvement of opioids in social reward and relationship salience (Henning et al, 2017). While the generic components of touch like shape, size, texture are not affect-laden, the CT fibers serve as a relay between the external stimulation and the internal affective content attached to it, which is seen in erotic or sensual touch (Jönsson et al, 2015).…”

Section: Affective Modulation Of 'Touch': Top-down Versus Bottom-up Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

RETRACTED: Biopsychosocial intersections of social/affective touch and psychiatry: Implications of ‘touch hunger’ during COVID-19

Banerjee

Vasquez

Pecchio

et al. 2021

Int J Soc Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Humans are neurobiologically wired for touch receptivity. Social touch is a common and mutual way of expressing affection, care, and intimacy. From an evolutionary perspective, affiliative and affectionate touch are considered necessary for social and cognitive development throughout life-stages and across species. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic as a public health threat has mandated social distancing as a measure to contain the global outbreak. Travel restrictions, lockdown, and quarantine have led to separation and segregation, giving rise to social touch deprivation that might have adverse biopsychosocial consequences. Methods: Affective touch has rarely been discussed within the purview of social psychiatry. We attempted to review the neurobiological, social, and behavioural correlates of social and sexual touch, as well as the neurophysiological models involved. Results: The unmyelinated peripheral C-fibre afferents projecting to insular cortex and somatosensory areas form the prime pathway for affective touch. ‘Top-down’ modulation via the periaqueductal grey area, rostroventral medulla and sub-cortical structures, and ‘Bottom-up’ approach via the dorsal horn of the spine form the two theoretical models of ‘social touch’ system. The mu - opioid receptor (MOR) implicated in the Brain Opioid Theory of Social Attachment (BOTSA) and social neuropeptides like oxytocin and vasopressin are the primary neurochemical substrates involved. Sexual intimacy involves other neurotransmitters, with increased oxytocin activity in the limbic structures, Nucleus Accumbens, Anterior Cingulate, and Prefrontal Cortex. The discrimination and amalgamation of touch senses, their affiliative value and emotional valence in humans are based on a complex interplay between psychobiological, environmental, and personal factors. Conclusion: The neurobehavioral and emotional effects of ‘touch hunger’ and strategies to mitigate it during COVID-19 are discussed in the context of psychoneuroimmunity and stress.

show abstract

“…Gratitude contributes to well-being ( Wood et al, 2010 ), and there are positive impacts on both mental health ( Lambert et al, 2012 ; Ng and Wong, 2013 ; Cheng et al, 2015 ; Mills et al, 2015 ; Van Dusen et al, 2015 ; Otto et al, 2016 ; Shao et al, 2016 ; Wong et al, 2016 ) and physical health ( Jackowska et al, 2015 ; Redwine et al, 2016 ; but see Huffman et al, 2016 ). A recent review speculates that μ-opioids could be a potential mediator of these health effects ( Henning et al, 2017 ). Overall, these studies establish the benefits of gratitude and distinguish it from detrimental emotions, but do not emphasize its relational and moral aspects, and they do not directly address whether gratitude increases attunement to rewards that benefit others versus the self.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cultivation of Pure Altruism via Gratitude: A Functional MRI Study of Change with Gratitude Practice

Karns

Moore

Mayr

2017

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gratitude is an emotion and a trait linked to well-being and better health, and welcoming benefits to oneself is instrumentally valuable. However, theoretical and empirical work highlights that gratitude is more fully understood as an intrinsically valuable moral emotion. To understand the role of neural reward systems in the association between gratitude and altruistic motivations we tested two hypotheses: First, whether self-reported propensity toward gratitude relates to fMRI-derived indicators of “pure altruism,” operationalized as the neural valuation of passive, private transfers to a charity versus to oneself. In young adult female participants, self-reported gratitude and altruism were associated with “neural pure altruism” in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and nucleus accumbens. Second, whether neural pure altruism can be increased through practicing gratitude. In a double-blind study, we randomly assigned participants to either a gratitude-journal or active-neutral control journal group for 3 weeks. Relative to pre-test levels, gratitude journaling increased the neural pure altruism response in the VMPFC. We posit that as a context-dependent value-sensitive cortical region, the VMPFC supports change with gratitude practice, a change that is larger for benefits to others versus oneself.

show abstract

A Potential Role for mu-Opioids in Mediating the Positive Effects of Gratitude

Cited by 24 publications

References 59 publications

Positive psychology in a pandemic: buffering, bolstering, and building mental health

Positive psychology in a pandemic: buffering, bolstering, and building mental health

RETRACTED: Biopsychosocial intersections of social/affective touch and psychiatry: Implications of ‘touch hunger’ during COVID-19

The Cultivation of Pure Altruism via Gratitude: A Functional MRI Study of Change with Gratitude Practice

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About