Pharmacology Institute, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
Department of Clinical Neurobiology, Medical Faculty Heidelberg and German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
Nat Commun. 2019 Feb 28;10(1):983. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-08873-z.
In humans, gamma-band oscillations in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) correlate with subjective pain perception. However, functional contributions to pain and the nature of underlying circuits are unclear. Here we report that gamma oscillations, but not other rhythms, are specifically strengthened independently of any motor component in the S1 cortex of mice during nociception. Moreover, mice with inflammatory pain show elevated resting gamma and alpha activity and increased gamma power in response to sub-threshold stimuli, in association with behavioral nociceptive hypersensitivity. Inducing gamma oscillations via optogenetic activation of parvalbumin-expressing inhibitory interneurons in the S1 cortex enhances nociceptive sensitivity and induces aversive avoidance behavior. Activity mapping identified a network of prefrontal cortical and subcortical centers whilst morphological tracing and pharmacological studies demonstrate the requirement of descending serotonergic facilitatory pathways in these pain-related behaviors. This study thus describes a mechanistic framework for modulation of pain by specific activity patterns in the S1 cortex.
在人类中，初级体感皮层（S1）中的伽马波段振荡与主观疼痛感知相关。然而，对于疼痛的功能贡献和潜在的神经回路的性质仍不清楚。在这里，我们报告在疼痛过程中，与任何运动成分无关，仅在小鼠的 S1 皮层中特异性增强了伽马振荡，而不是其他节律。此外，患有炎性疼痛的小鼠在静息状态下表现出升高的伽马和阿尔法活动，以及对阈下刺激的伽马功率增加，与行为性疼痛过敏相关。通过光遗传学激活 S1 皮层中表达 Parvalbumin 的抑制性中间神经元来诱导伽马振荡，可增强痛觉敏感性并引起厌恶回避行为。活动映射确定了一个前额叶皮质和皮质下中枢的网络，而形态追踪和药理学研究表明，在这些与疼痛相关的行为中，下行 5-羟色胺能易化途径是必需的。因此，这项研究描述了一种通过 S1 皮层中特定活动模式来调节疼痛的机制框架。
