title: [Neuronal mechanisms underlying pain-induced negative emotions].
abstract: Pain consists of sensory-discriminative and negative emotional components. Although the neuronal basis of the sensory component of pain has been studied extensively, the neuronal mechanisms underlying the negative emotional component are not well understood. Recently, behavioral studies using a conditioned place paradigm have successfully elucidated the neuronal circuits and mechanisms underlying the negative emotional component of pain. Excitotoxic lesions of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), central amygdaloid nucleus, basolateral amygdaloid nucleus (BLA), or bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) suppress intraplantar formalin-induced aversive responses. Glutamatergic transmission within the ACC and BLA via N-methyl-D-asparate (NMDA) receptors has been shown to play a critical role in these aversive responses. In the BNST, especially its ventral part, noradrenergic transmission via β-adrenergic receptors has been shown to be important for pain-induced aversion. Because persistent pain is frequently associated with psychological and emotional dysfunctions, studies on the neuronal circuits and molecular mechanisms involved in the negative emotional component of pain may have considerable clinical importance in the treatment of chronic pain. Here, I have reviewed behavioral studies investigating the neuronal mechanisms underlying the negative emotional component of pain and have introduced our data showing the pivotal role of amygdala and BNST in pain-induced aversion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masabumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minami
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012686:Septal Nuclei / Q000502:physiology*