Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42853412›Full record

ArticleBrain structure & function2026

Nociceptive responses and resting-state functional connectivity of the human midbrain tegmentum.

Amanda Cao, Kiely Morris, Hanne van der Heijden, Raquel van Gool, Shantel Rose Gregory, Joseph Gonzalez-Heydrich, Daniel Paech, Sabina Berretta, Jaymin Upadhyay

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Article in Brain structure & function, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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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

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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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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

9 authors.

Amanda Cao *Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 333 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Kiely Morris *Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA.
Hanne van der HeijdenDepartment of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 333 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Raquel van GoolDepartment of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 333 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Shantel Rose GregoryDepartment of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA.
Joseph Gonzalez-HeydrichDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Daniel PaechDepartment of Radiology, Massachusetts General Brigham Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Sabina BerrettaDepartment of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, 02478, USA.
Jaymin UpadhyayDepartment of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 333 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. jaymin.upadhyay@childrens.harvard.edu.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8682-163X

Funding

Discovery of the Rostromedial Tegmental Nucleus in the Human BrainR21MH127506 · NIMH · MCLEAN HOSPITAL · PI BERRETTA, SABINA, UPADHYAY, JAYMIN A · 2022 to 2023
$451k
NIMH NIH HHS R21MH127506
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) has been shown to inhibit midbrain dopaminergic centers through its GABAergic projections, and to be critical for regulating responses to aversive and rewarding stimuli. This nucleus has primarily been evaluated in rodents and non-human primates, while recent postmortem analysis of human brainstem tissue localized GABAergic cell clusters in the putative RMTg. The objectives of this preliminary investigation in healthy controls (HC) were to (i) define RMTg function during evoked thermal stimulation and the resting-state using 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and (ii) explore the expression of putative RMTg markers, µ-opioid receptors (OPMR1), nociceptin receptors (NOPR), and FOXP1 as well as tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the midbrain tegmentum. Relative to 40 °C stimuli, greater responses to 46 °C (normally noxious) in the putative RMTg as well as raphe nuclei, locus coeruleus, substantia nigra, thalamus, putamen, and anterior cingulate were observed. Resting-state 7T fMRI showed robust RMTg functional connectivity with components of mesocorticolimbic and nigrostriatal circuitry, thalamus, hippocampus, and cerebellar subdivision. In postmortem analyses, neurons immunolabeled for OPMR1, NOPR, and FOXP1 were detected in an area adjacent to the decussation of the superior cerebellar peduncle. These immune-positive neurons in the area of the putative RMTg were adjacent to intense TH immunoreactivity. This investigation provides novel evidence of activation of a distinct area within the human midbrain tegmentum, putatively identified as the RMTg, particularly during nociceptive processing in addition to its resting-state connectivity with the broader central nervous system. Further exploration of the human RMTg is warranted.

Indexed as

NociceptionTegmentum MesencephaliAdultBrain MappingFemaleForkhead Transcription FactorsHot TemperatureHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedNeural PathwaysReceptors, OpioidReceptors, Opioid, muRestTyrosine 3-MonooxygenaseForkhead Transcription FactorsReceptors, OpioidReceptors, Opioid, muTyrosine 3-MonooxygenaseFunctional magnetic resonance imagingMesocorticolimbicNigrostriatalPainPostmortemResting-state functional connectivityRostromedial tegmental nucleus

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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.