A top-down neural circuit for affective-motivational responses of pain relief induced by electroacupuncture - PubMed
5 hours ago
- #Neural Circuits
- #Electroacupuncture
- #Pain Relief
- Electroacupuncture (EA) at ST36 acupoint induces affective-motivational responses of pain relief in animal models.
- EA activates glutamatergic neurons in the infralimbic cortex (IL) in a pain-dependent manner.
- Optogenetic activation of IL glutamatergic (ILGlu) neurons mimics EA-induced analgesia and conditioned place preference (CPP).
- Inhibition of ILGlu neurons reverses EA-induced effects.
- The IL-nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell pathway is activated by EA in spared nerve injury (SNI) rats.
- Activation of ILGlu to NAc shell GABA projection is necessary for EA-induced analgesia, CPP, and anxiolytic-like behaviors.
- EA attenuates anxious- or depressive-like behaviors in SNI rats.
- Clinical study shows EA improves affective-motivational responses in chronic low back pain patients.
- The study provides a basis for using EA to target top-down neural circuits for chronic pain relief.