Rowers' high: behavioural synchrony is correlated with elevated pain thresholds.

Journal article

Physical exercise is known to stimulate the release of endorphins, creating a mild sense of euphoria that has rewarding properties. Using pain tolerance (a conventional non-invasive assay for endorphin release), we show that synchronized training in a college rowing crew creates a heightened endorphin surge compared with a similar training regime carried out alone. This heightened effect from synchronized activity may explain the sense of euphoria experienced during other social activities (such as laughter, music-making and dancing) that are involved in social bonding in humans and possibly other vertebrates.

Authors: Cohen, E; Ejsmond-Frey, R; Knight, N; Dunbar, R

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Biology letters
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 106-108
• Publication date: 2010-02-01
• DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0670
• EISSN: 1744-957X
• ISSN: 1744-9561
• Language: English
• Keywords: Sports; Male; Humans; Endorphins; England; Social Behavior; Physical Exertion; Analysis of Variance; Group Processes; Pain Threshold; Adult