ArticlePLoS biology2024
The anterior cingulate cortex controls the hyperactivity in subthalamic neurons in male mice with comorbid chronic pain and depression.
Article in PLoS biology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Enhanced substance P-NK1R signaling in the parabrachial-parasubthalamic pathway promotes hyperalgesia and affective aversion in neuropathic pain.Acta pharmacologica Sinica · 2026Article
- Nigra-Subthalamic Dopaminergic Circuitry Modulates and Represents Distinct Pain Modality in Physiological and Pain States in Mice.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Targeting the posterior thalamic hub: hemispheric-specific encoding of pain-depression comorbidity after hemorrhagic stroke.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- An attention-demanding hunting paradigm engages the superior colliculus-zona incerta circuit mediating analgesia in male mice.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Novelty exploration-activated ensemble in the lateral hypothalamus confers analgesic and anxiolytic effects.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Recent progress in chronic pain-related negative emotions and cognitive dysfunction: insights into the mechanisms underlying neural circuitry.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2026Review
- Distinct CaMKII neurons in anterior cingulate cortex regulate anxiety-like behavior and appetite suppression in a model of inflammatory pain.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Gonadotropin-releasing hormone alleviates chronic pain-related depression in male mice by rebalancing the anterior cingulate cortex excitatory-inhibitory processes via the protein kinase C/Erb-B2 receptor tyrosine kinase 4 pathway.Brain communications · 2026Article
- Understanding pain heterogeneity in osteoarthritis patients: a narrative review.Frontiers of medicine · 2025Review
- The Locus Coeruleus-Periaqueductal Gray GABAergic Projection Regulates Comorbid Pain and Depression.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Excitatory projections from the nucleus reuniens to the medial prefrontal cortex modulate pain and depression-like behaviors in mice.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- Application of Optogenetic Neuromodulation in Regulating Depression.Current medical science · 2025Review
- Selective activation of SIGMAR1 in anterior cingulate cortex glutamatergic neurons facilitates comorbid pain in depression in male mice.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Chronic Pain and Comorbid Emotional Disorders: Neural Circuitry and Neuroimmunity Pathways.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Temporal lobe dysfunction for comorbid depressive symptoms in postherpetic neuralgia patients.Brain communications · 2025Article
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9 authors.
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Abstract
Neurons in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) become hyperactive following nerve injury and promote pain-related responses in mice. Considering that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in pain and emotion processing and projects to the STN, we hypothesize that ACC neurons may contribute to hyperactivity in STN neurons in chronic pain. In the present study, we showed that ACC neurons enhanced activity in response to noxious stimuli and to alterations in emotional states and became hyperactive in chronic pain state established by spared nerve injury of the sciatic nerve (SNI) in mice. In naïve mice, STN neurons were activated by noxious stimuli, but not by alterations in emotional states. Pain responses in STN neurons were attenuated in both naïve and SNI mice when ACC neurons were inhibited. Furthermore, optogenetic activation of the ACC-STN pathway induced bilateral hyperalgesia and depression-like behaviors in naive mice; conversely, inhibition of this pathway is sufficient to attenuate hyperalgesia and depression-like behaviors in SNI mice and naïve mice subjected to stimulation of STN neurons. Finally, mitigation of pain-like and depression-like behaviors in SNI mice by inhibition of the ACC-STN projection was eliminated by activation of STN neurons. Our results demonstrate that hyperactivity in the ACC-STN pathway may be an important pathophysiology in comorbid chronic pain and depression. Thus, the ACC-STN pathway may be an intervention target for the treatment of the comorbid chronic pain and depression.
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