Acupuncture has been used in East-Asian medicine for thousands of years to treat pain by activating the body’s natural painkillers. But how it works at the cellular level is largely unknown. Researchers at the University of Michigan Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center are first to provide evidence of acupuncture’s effect on opoid receptors. In the study, researchers at the U-M Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center showed acupuncture increased the binding availability of mu-opoid receptors (MOR) in regions of the brain that process and dampen pain signals. Link to article.