Most of us have a busy opium den between our ears. The discovery was made in 1975 by scientists at the University of Aberdeen, who managed to extract from brains a substance which produced the euphoria of morphine. In the last three years, a whole family of these narcotics - the endorphins - has been discovered, and it has even been suggested that our brains manufacture their own tranquillisers.
Peter Evans narrates the story of the biological discovery of the decade. and examines its implications for our understanding of such diverse conditions as chronic pain, drug abuse, love, and madness.
Producer DAVID PATERSON (B'cast last Thurs on R3)