ReviewMolecular pain
Cortical mechanism of emotional pain.
Review in Molecular pain. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Efficacy of psychological interventions versus standard care for cancer pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Resting-state local brain functional synchronization after a single trigger-zone stimulation: with versus without evoked pain in classical trigeminal neuralgia patients.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Article
- Emotional pain in non-human mammals: from neural circuitry and opioid signaling to dysthymia-like states, grief-like behaviors, and physiological dysregulation.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Most basic and clinical research on chronic pain has traditionally focused on the mechanisms and treatment of physical pain resulting from peripheral injuries in individual animals or humans. However, growing evidence highlights the importance of emotional pain, a form of distress that extends beyond the individual to include family members, partners, and friends affected by another's suffering. In this review, I summarize recent advances in animal models of empathic pain and explore cortical synaptic mechanisms underlying this form of social or emotional pain. I compare the cortical processes mediating physical pain and emotional pain, drawing on evidence from both human brain imaging and animal studies. Converging findings suggest that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insular cortex (IC) play central roles in the perception and persistence of emotional pain. Cortical potentiation appears to be a key synaptic mechanism driving long-term emotional pain, and cortical top-down modulation of spinal nociceptive transmission may help explain how emotional distress leads to abnormal somatosensory perception. Finally, the calcium-stimulated adenylyl cyclase subtype 1 (AC1) is discussed as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of chronic pain and its associated emotional disorders.
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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.