ReviewNeural regeneration research2020
Evidence and explanation for the involvement of the nucleus accumbens in pain processing.
Review in Neural regeneration research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 107 citations in OpenAlex.
- Preclinical and clinical sex differences in the effects of alcohol on measures of brain dopamine: a systematic review.Biology of sex differences · 2025Pooled it
- Pain-related opioidergic and dopaminergic neurotransmission: Dual meta-Analyses of PET radioligand studies.Brain research · 2023Pooled it
- Neuroimaging Studies of Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome.Pain research & management · 2022Pooled it
- Article
- Social rank modulates empathic pain via Galntl6Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Sexually dimorphic organization of extracellular matrix and perineuronal nets in the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) social brain.Brain structure & function · 2026Article
- Chronic Ocular Surface Pain: A Missing Member of the Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions?Drugs · 2026Review
- Towards AI-driven prediction ofJournal of Huntington's disease · 2026Article
- Dynamic coupling of emotion and pain: from perception to affective response.The Korean journal of pain · 2026Review
- Network-based disease fingerprinting with neuroinflammation PET imaging.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Dopamine in the Nucleus Accumbens Signals Salience of Auditory Deviance.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Article
- A top-down neural circuit for affective-motivational responses of pain relief induced by electroacupuncture.Chinese medicine · 2026Article
- Aberrant type 2 dopamine and mu-opioid receptor availability in autism spectrum disorder.European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026Article
- D1 and D2 neurons in medial nucleus accumbens participate in chronic orofacial pain phenotypes.Pain reports · 2026Article
- Depression in Chinese adolescents: prevalence, symptoms, risk factors, affected brain, diagnosis, and interventions.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
- The role of nucleus accumbens dopamine signaling in the development of morphine tolerance in neuropathic pain.The Korean journal of pain · 2026Article
- The neurons in NAc core receiving ACC excitatory afferents contribute to chronic postoperative pain.iScience · 2025Article
- Chemokine CCL2 Mediates Neuroglial Crosstalk and Drives Chronic Pain Pathogenesis.Neuroscience bulletin · 2025Review
- Network-based disease fingerprinting with neuroinflammation PET imaging.Research square · 2025Article
- Neuropathological Correlates of Volume and Shape of Deep Gray Matter Structures in Community-Based Older Adults.Human brain mapping · 2025Article
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 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is a subcortical brain structure known primarily for its roles in pleasure, reward, and addiction. Despite less focus on the NAc in pain research, it also plays a large role in the mediation of pain and is effective as a source of analgesia. Evidence for this involvement lies in the NAc's cortical connections, functions, pharmacology, and therapeutic targeting. The NAc projects to and receives information from notable pain structures, such as the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, periaqueductal gray, habenula, thalamus, etc. Additionally, the NAc and other pain-modulating structures share functions involving opioid regulation and motivational and emotional processing, which each work beyond simply the rewarding experience of pain offset. Pharmacologically speaking, the NAc responds heavily to painful stimuli, due to its high density of μ opioid receptors and the activation of several different neurotransmitter systems in the NAc, such as opioids, dopamine, calcitonin gene-related peptide, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, and substance P, each of which have been shown to elicit analgesic effects. In both preclinical and clinical models, deep brain stimulation of the NAc has elicited successful analgesia. The multi-functional NAc is important in motivational behavior, and the motivation for avoiding pain is just as important to survival as the motivation for seeking pleasure. It is possible, then, that the NAc must be involved in both pleasure and pain in order to help determine the motivational salience of positive and negative events.
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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.