title: Stress-induced modulation of nociceptive responses in the rat anterior cingulate cortex.
abstract: In the limbic system, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACCX) is one of the key areas involved in the close association between pain and emotion. However, neuronal changes in ACCX nociceptive responses after stress conditioning have not yet been quantitatively investigated. We investigated the modulation of nociceptive responses in the ACCX neurons following restraint stress in rats. The present study demonstrated that stress-conditioning enhanced excitatory nociceptive responses in the ACCX following tail stimuli in the mid-term (7 days). Short-term (3 days) and long-term (21 days) of stress conditioning did not affect these responses significantly. Nociceptive responses evoked by other sites of the body (nose, back and four paws) stimulation were not changed by stress-conditioning, indicating that neural information from the tail is important for emotional system modulation. It is suggested that the emotional/affective part of the pain sensation is strongly modified by stress through neuroplasticity in the ACCX.
authors.affiliation: Oral Surgery, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 852-8588, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Jorge L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Zeredo
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaida
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kimoto
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Asahina
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Toda
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005121:Extremities / Q000294:innervation; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D059225:Nociception / Q000502:physiology*; D009666:Nose / Q000294:innervation; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D010812:Physical Stimulation / Q000009:adverse effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D060726:Torso / Q000294:innervation