MUNICH, Germany, March 4 (UPI) -- Using a positron emission tomography to scan brain activity, German researchers have confirmed the "runner's high" produced from prolonged jogging.

Researchers at the Technische University of Munich and the University of Bonn in Germany said they succeeded in showing the existence of an "endorphin-driven runner's high," during which there was an increased release of endorphins in certain areas of the athletes' brains during an extended jogging session.

The study, published in journal Cerebral Cortex, also showed that jogging not only makes a person high but can also relieve pain.

Ten athletes were scanned before and after a two-hour, long-distance run using the PET imaging technique using a radioactive substance, which binds to the opiate receptors in the brain and competes with endorphins.

"The more endorphins are produced in the athlete's brain, the more opiate receptors are blocked," research coordinator Henning Boecker of Technische University and now with the University Hospital Bonn.

"We could validate for the first time an endorphin-driven runner's high and identify the affected brain areas."

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