This study looked at how kratom affects the brain. The researchers wanted to see if kratom increases the amount of a chemical called dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a neurochemical that is important for making people feel happy and motivated.

The researchers gave kratom to rats and measured the dopamine in their brains. They found that when the rats took kratom for just one day, it didn’t change the dopamine levels very much. But when the rats took kratom for 4 days in a row, it did increase the dopamine, especially in one part of the brain called the frontal cortex. This suggests that kratom may be addictive, because drugs that increase dopamine can make people want to keep taking them.

Key takeaways:

• Mitragynine (the main active compound in kratom) increased dopamine levels in the rat brain, especially after repeated exposure for 4 days.
• The increase in dopamine was most pronounced in the frontal cortex of the brain.
• This suggests kratom may have addictive properties, as drugs that increase dopamine can lead to addiction.
• The study was done in a lab setting using rats as the subject.

For further reading:

Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304394021004906

Full Citation:

Effendy, M. A., Yunusa, S., Zain, Z. M., & Hassan, Z. (2021). Real time monitoring of dopamine release evoked by mitragynine (Kratom): An insight through electrochemical sensor. Neuroscience Letters, 763, 136183.