• Ling Zhang and Zhi-Qi Zhao.
• Institute of Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China. lzhang@zeus.bwh.harvard.edu
• Brain Res. Bull. 2010 Apr 5; 81 (6): 574-8.

AbstractThe medial thalamus (MT) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) are essential components in mediating the affective emotional-aspect of pain. Whether ACC modulates the neuron activity in MT has not been elucidated and clarifying this point will further reveal the neurobiological mechanism underlying pain related emotions. In the present study, we used in vivo single unit recording and retrograde tracing technique to demonstrate that the majority of examined neurons in the central lateral nucleus (CL), an important nucleus of MT, responded to noxious stimulation. Tetanic stimulation in the ACC increased spike activities of nociceptive-responding neurons in the CL; retrograde tracing by fluorogold in the CL showed the positive neurons are distributed bilaterally in the ACC. Taken together, we demonstrated descending modulation to nociceptive responses of CL neurons by direct projections from the ACC, which may underlie the neuronal mechanism of negative pain emotions.Published by Elsevier Inc.

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