As opioid abuse remains a big problem for the healthcare community, and especially workers’ comp, scientists are trying to come up with alternatives to these drugs that might bring some relief to patients without the addictive and dangerous side effects.

Scientists out of Washington University in St. Louis are investigating whether light therapy could have the same effect on the brain as pain relieving drugs.

Opiates work because they latch onto opioid receptors in the brain and reduce the brain’s perception of pain. Neuroscientists were experimenting with rhodopsin, a light-sensing protein, and fused it to a specific opioid receptor called a Mu receptor. When they did that it yielded a similar effect to when an opioid receptor comes in contact with a painkiller, releasing the same reward chemicals like dopamine that make the user feel good. While that effect is good for patients with serious pain, it also makes them want more of the drug maybe even after the pain is gone, or they build up a tolerance and need more and more which is why the drugs can be dangerous.

Researchers are excited because this means it might be possible to activate the opioid receptors that control pain using light, rather than pharmaceuticals. Opiate drugs don’t just have the painkilling effect- they can also impact the gastrointestinal process and breathing. The light therapy seems to be concentrated on just the pain receptors so they are able to target them and understand how the receptors work a little easier. Instead of a complex bunch of other side effects the light just focuses in on these brain receptors.

When tested on mice they found that the light in a specific part of a maze worked to release dopamine in their brains and when they left the part of the maze that was lit the effect wore off. The mice would return back to that same lit spot to try and see if their brain could get more of the same effect. Just like they would have with a painkiller drug, except without the drug.

Scientists hope the light therapy will not have the addictive power of drugs but there are more studies to be done. They would like to figure out how to activate and deactivate these effects with more control.