小柯机器人

美国国家心理健康研究所A Hoon Mark小组的最新研究表明尾腹外侧髓质中的神经元介导下行疼痛控制。相关论文于2023年3月9日发表在《自然-神经科学》杂志上。

研究人员发现小鼠尾腹外侧髓质中存在儿茶酚胺能神经元，这些神经元会被有害刺激激活。激活后，这些神经元会产生双侧前反馈抑制，通过脊髓腔原位神经元和去甲肾上腺素途径减弱伤害性反应。该途径足以减轻损伤引发的热异常性疼痛，并且是反刺激诱导镇痛到产生热异常所必需的。该研究结果表明调节伤害性反应是疼痛调节系统的组成部分。

据介绍，脊髓上脑区域通过改变伤害性信号以响应各种压力源，包括提高疼痛阈值刺激。先前的研究表明延髓与这种类型的疼痛控制有关，但尚不清楚其所涉及的神经元和分子回路。

附：英文原文

Title: Neurons in the caudal ventrolateral medulla mediate descending pain control

Author: Gu, Xinglong, Zhang, Yizhen Z., OMalley, John J., De Preter, Caitlynn C., Penzo, Mario, Hoon, Mark A.

Issue&Volume: 2023-03-09

Abstract: Supraspinal brain regions modify nociceptive signals in response to various stressors including stimuli that elevate pain thresholds. The medulla oblongata has previously been implicated in this type of pain control, but the neurons and molecular circuits involved have remained elusive. Here we identify catecholaminergic neurons in the caudal ventrolateral medulla that are activated by noxious stimuli in mice. Upon activation, these neurons produce bilateral feed-forward inhibition that attenuates nociceptive responses through a pathway involving the locus coeruleus and norepinephrine in the spinal cord. This pathway is sufficient to attenuate injury-induced heat allodynia and is required for counter-stimulus induced analgesia to noxious heat. Our findings define a component of the pain modulatory system that regulates nociceptive responses.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01268-w

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-023-01268-w

Nature Neuroscience：《自然—神经科学》，创刊于1998年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：28.771
官方网址：https://www.nature.com/neuro/
投稿链接：https://mts-nn.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex