ReviewNeuroscience2016
Modulation of pain, nociception, and analgesia by the brain reward center.
Review in Neuroscience, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 167 citations in OpenAlex.
- Coordinate-based (ALE) meta-analysis of acupuncture for musculoskeletal pain.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Nigra-Subthalamic Dopaminergic Circuitry Modulates and Represents Distinct Pain Modality in Physiological and Pain States in Mice.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Nonlinear threshold and association of depressive symptoms with pain in middle-aged and older Chinese adults: a cross-sectional and cohort study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Chronic Pain and Opioids in the Elderly: Treating the Brain, Not Just the Body.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Review
- Melatonin as an Integrative Adjunct in Multimodal Analgesia: Linking Circadian Regulation, Anti-Inflammatory Modulation, and Opioid-Sparing Mechanisms.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- The paraEuropean journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Article
- Synaptic plasticity in affective comorbidities of neuropathic pain: a bibliometric analysis based on WoSCC and PubMed (2003-2025).Frontiers in neurology · 2026Article
- ESG-1-60 and ESG-1-61: Novel dopamine DBritish journal of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Mito-TEMPO Mitigates Fibromyalgia Induced by Reserpine in Rats: Orchestration Between SIRT1, Mitochondrial Dynamics, Endoplasmic Reticulum and miRNA-320.Neurochemical research · 2025Article
- HDAC6 inhibition ameliorates sensory hypersensitivity and reduces immune cell signatures in the dorsal root ganglia in murine chronic pain models.Molecular pharmacology · 2025Article
- Temporomandibular disorders and mental health: shared etiologies and treatment approaches.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Review
- Altered Brain Functional Connectivity and Neurometabolite Correlations in Orofacial Chronic Pain with Central Sensitization.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Sex differences in pain perception and modulation in the brain: effects of insular cortex stimulation on chronic pain relief.Brain communications · 2025Article
- Neurochemical crossroads: exploring the neurotransmitter network in chronic pain and depression comorbidity.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2025Review
- 18 kDa Translocator protein (TSPO) is upregulated in rat brain after peripheral nerve injury and downregulated by diroximel fumarate.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Article
- Exploring Gut Microbiota Imbalance in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Potential Therapeutic Effects of Probiotics and Their Metabolites.Nutrients · 2024Review
- Altered structure and functional connection of subcortical gray matter in female patients with classical trigeminal neuralgia.Brain imaging and behavior · 2024Article
- An ACC-VTA-ACC positive-feedback loop mediates the persistence of neuropathic pain and emotional consequences.Nature neuroscience · 2024Article
- Reward system neurodynamics during menstrual pain modulated byFrontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2024Article
- A novel opioid/pramipexole combination treatment for the management of acute pain: a pilot study.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Article
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The midbrain dopamine center comprises a key network for reward, salience, motivation, and mood. Evidence from various clinical and preclinical settings points to the midbrain dopamine circuit as an important modulator of pain perception and pain-induced anxiety and depression. This review summarizes recent findings that shed light to the neuroanatomical, electrophysiological and molecular adaptations that chronic pain conditions promote in the mesolimbic dopamine system. Chronic pain states induce changes in neuronal plasticity and functional connectivity in several parts of the brain reward center, including nucleus accumbens, the ventral tegmental area and the prefrontal cortex. Here, we discuss recent findings on the mechanisms involved in the perception of chronic pain, in pain-induced anxiety and depression, as well as in pain-killer addiction vulnerability. Several new studies also show that the mesolimbic dopamine circuit potently modulates responsiveness to opioids and antidepressants used for the treatment of chronic pain. We discuss recent data supporting a role of the brain reward pathway in treatment efficacy and we summarize novel findings on intracellular adaptations in the brain reward circuit under chronic pain states.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.