• Question: What part of the brain are endorphins released from?

    Asked by anon-228668 to Jolel, Emily, Amber, Alex on 11 Nov 2019.
    • Photo: Jolel Miah

      Jolel Miah answered on 11 Nov 2019:

      pituitary gland from what I can remember!

    • Photo: Emily Mattacola

      Emily Mattacola answered on 12 Nov 2019:

      Endorphins are released from your central nervous system and the pituitary gland.

      Your central nervous system consists of your brain and spinal cord, and endorphins are released here to block the action of other chemicals which are released in response to pain. This is thought to be what happens during “runner’s high” for example; endorphins released in the central nervous system stop us from feeling quite so rubbish if we’ve been running for a long time, and help us to run for longer.

      The pituitary gland s a small pea-sized gland in your brain that plays a really important role. It’s referred to as your body’s ‘master gland’ because it controls the activity of most glands in your body. Thinking about endorphins specifically, the pituitary works in a similar way to the central nervous system response, but blocks different chemicals.

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