Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31501573›Full record

ArticleNature neuroscience2019

A neuronal circuit for activating descending modulation of neuropathic pain.

Junting Huang, Vinicius M Gadotti, Lina Chen, Ivana A Souza, Shuo Huang, Decheng Wang, Charu Ramakrishnan, Karl Deisseroth, Zizhen Zhang, Gerald W Zamponi

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature neuroscience, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 216 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
216citing papers in PubMed
17.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

216 citing papers in PubMed, 318 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
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  4. Progress in pain mechanisms and management.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. VlPAG/DRN Microglia Drive Neuropathic Pain-Induced Depression via a Defined Neuroimmune Axis.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Article
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  19. Article
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156 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Junting Huang *Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Vinicius M Gadotti *Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Lina ChenDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Ivana A SouzaDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Shuo HuangDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Decheng WangDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Charu RamakrishnanDepartment of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Department of Bioengineering, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3474-6332
Karl DeisserothDepartment of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Department of Bioengineering, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
Zizhen ZhangDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. zizzhang@ucalgary.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8069-3756
Gerald W ZamponiDepartment of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. zamponi@ucalgary.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0644-9066
University of Calgary · CAHoward Hughes Medical Institute · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Neuropathic pain can be a debilitating condition with both sensory and affective components, the underlying brain circuitry of which remains poorly understood. In the present study, a basolateral amygdala (BLA)-prefrontal cortex (PFC)-periaqueductal gray (PAG)-spinal cord pathway was identified that is critical for the development of mechanical and thermal hypersensitivity after peripheral nerve injury. It was shown that nerve injury strengthens synaptic input from the BLA onto inhibitory interneurons located in the prelimbic medial PFC, by virtue of reduced endocannabinoid modulation. These augmented synaptic connections mediate a feedforward inhibition of projections from the PFC to the ventrolateral PAG region and its downstream targets. Optogenetic approaches combined with in vivo pharmacology reveal that these BLA-PFC-PAG connections alter pain behaviors by reducing descending noradrenergic and serotoninergic modulation of spinal pain signals. Thus, a long-range brain circuit was identified that is crucial for pain processing and that can potentially be exploited toward targeting neuropathic pain.

Indexed as

AmygdalaAnimalsBehavior, AnimalHot TemperatureMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLMotor ActivityNeuralgiaNeural PathwaysNeuronsOptogeneticsPeriaqueductal GrayPeripheral Nerve InjuriesPhysical StimulationPrefrontal Cortex

Identifiers

PMID31501573
OpenAlexW2972864586

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.