How Laughing Gas or Nitrous Oxide Works

This article was originally published on www.thoughtco.com 

Laughing gas or nitrous oxide is used in the dentist's office to reduce patient anxiety and relieve pain. It's also a common recreational drug. Have you ever wondered how laughing gas works? Here's a look at how laughing gas reacts in the body and whether it's safe or not.

What Is Laughing Gas?

Laughing gas is the common name for nitrous oxide or N₂O. It is also known as nitrous, nitro, or NOS. It's a nonflammable, colorless gas that has a slightly sweet flavor and odor.

In addition to its use in rockets and to boost engine performance for motor racing, laughing gas has several medical applications. It has been used in dentistry and surgery as an analgesic and anesthetic since 1844 when dentist Dr. Horace Wells used it on himself during a tooth extraction. Since that time, its use has become commonplace in medicine, plus the euphoric effect of inhaling the gas has led to use as a recreation drug.

How Laughing Gas Works

Although the gas has been used for a long time, the exact mechanism of its action in the body is incompletely understood, in part because the various effects depend upon different reactions. In general, nitrous oxide moderates several ligand-gated ion channels. Specifically, the mechanisms for the effects are:

• Anxiolytic or Anti-Anxiety Effect
  Studies indicate the anti-anxiety effect from inhalation of laughing gas derives from increased activity of GABA_A receptors. The GABA_A receptor acts as the central nervous system's principal inhibitory neurotransmitter

• Painkiller or Analgesic EffectLaughing gas reduces the perception of pain by facilitating an interaction between the descending noradrenergic system and the endogenous opioid system. Nitrous oxide causes the release of endogenous opioids, but how this happens is unknown.
• Euphoria EffectNitrous produces euphoria by causing dopamine to be released, which stimulates the mesolimbic reward pathway in the brain. This contributes to the analgesic effect, too.

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