Individual Variation in Sleep Quality and Duration Is Related to Cerebral Mu Opioid Receptor Binding Potential during Tonic Laboratory Pain in Healthy Subjects

Abstract

These findings suggest that poor sleep quality and short sleep duration are associated with endogenous opioid activity in these brain regions during the application of a noxious stimulus. Elucidating the role of the endogenous opioid system in mediating some of the associations between sleep and pain could significantly improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of chronic pain and might advance clinical practice by suggesting interventions that could buffer the adverse effects of poor sleep on pain.