ArticleBehavioral and brain functions : BBF2019
Motor cortex and pain control: exploring the descending relay analgesic pathways and spinal nociceptive neurons in healthy conscious rats.
Article in Behavioral and brain functions : BBF, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Opioid- and NMDA-receptor-dependent neural plasticity mediates long-term analgesia from motor cortical stimulation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Review
- A corticospinal signature for interindividual pain sensitivity.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Battery-Free Dual-Channel Wireless Neurostimulator Using Passive Circuitry for Neuropathic Pain Modulation.Advanced healthcare materials · 2025Article
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in Diabetes: A Focused and Mechanistic Review of Symptom and Function Outcomes.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Descending projection neurons in the primary sensorimotor cortex regulate neuropathic pain and locomotion in mice.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: Is it an Effective Treatment for Cancer Pain?Pain and therapy · 2025Review
- Peripheral vasoconstriction is not elevated during hyperreactive responses to the cold pressor test: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Article
- Anatomo-physiological basis and applied techniques of electrical neuromodulation in chronic pain.Journal of anesthesia, analgesia and critical care · 2024Review
- Neurocircuitry basis of motor cortex-related analgesia as an emerging approach for chronic pain management.Nature. Mental health · 2024Article
- Brain stimulation for chronic pain management: a narrative review of analgesic mechanisms and clinical evidence.Neurosurgical review · 2023Review
- Upregulation of the hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system and activation of vasopressin neurones attenuates hyperalgesia in a neuropathic pain model rat.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Cortical stimulation for chronic pain: from anecdote to evidence.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine · 2022Review
- The analgesic effect of different interactive modes of virtual reality: A prospective functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
- Article
- Suppression of neuropathic pain and comorbidities by recurrent cycles of repetitive transcranial direct current motor cortex stimulation in mice.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Pain at the Slaughterhouse in Ruminants with a Focus on the Neurobiology of Sensitisation.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Review
- Increasing Serotonin to Reduce Parkinsonian Tremor.Frontiers in systems neuroscience · 2021Article
- Acupuncture WithFrontiers in neuroscience · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Motor cortex stimulation (MCS) is an effective therapy for refractory neuropathic pain. MCS increases the nociceptive threshold in healthy rats via endogenous opioids, inhibiting thalamic nuclei and activating the periaqueductal gray. It remains unclear how the motor cortex induces top-down modulation of pain in the absence of persistent pain. Here, we investigated the main nuclei involved in the descending analgesic pathways and the spinal nociceptive neurons in rats that underwent one session of MCS and were evaluated with the paw pressure nociceptive test. The pattern of neuronal activation in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), nucleus raphe magnus (NRM), locus coeruleus (LC), and dorsal horn of the spinal cord (DHSC) was assessed by immunoreactivity (IR) for Egr-1 (a marker of activated neuronal nuclei). IR for serotonin (5HT) in the DRN and NRM, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the LC, and substance P (SP) and enkephalin (ENK) in the DHSC was also evaluated. MCS increased the nociceptive threshold of the animals; this increase was accompanied by activation of the NRM, while DRN activation was unchanged. However, cortical stimulation induced an increase in 5HT-IR in both serotonergic nuclei. MCS did not change the activation pattern or TH-IR in the LC, and it inhibited neuronal activation in the DHSC without altering SP or ENK-IR. Taken together, our results suggest that MCS induces the activation of serotonergic nuclei as well as the inhibition of spinal neurons, and such effects may contribute to the elevation of the nociceptive threshold in healthy rats. These results allow a better understanding of the circuitry involved in the antinociceptive top-down effect induced by MCS under basal conditions, reinforcing the role of primary motor cortex in pain control.
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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.