Lee Jung-Hyun Alex, Chen Qiyu, Zhuo Min
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Medical Science Building, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada.
Institute of Brain Research, Qingdao International Academician Park, Qingdao 266199, China.
Biomedicines. 2022 Oct 28;10(11):2745. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines10112745.
Cumulative animal and human studies have consistently demonstrated that two major cortical regions in the brain, namely the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insular cortex (IC), play critical roles in pain perception and chronic pain. Neuronal synapses in these cortical regions of adult animals are highly plastic and can undergo long-term potentiation (LTP), a phenomenon that is also reported in brain areas for learning and memory (such as the hippocampus). Genetic and pharmacological studies show that inhibiting such cortical LTP can help to reduce behavioral sensitization caused by injury as well as injury-induced emotional changes. In this review, we will summarize recent progress related to synaptic mechanisms for different forms of cortical LTP and their possible contribution to behavioral pain and emotional changes.
累积的动物和人体研究一致表明，大脑中的两个主要皮质区域，即前扣带回皮质（ACC）和岛叶皮质（IC），在疼痛感知和慢性疼痛中起关键作用。成年动物这些皮质区域中的神经元突触具有高度可塑性，并且可以经历长期增强（LTP），这一现象在学习和记忆的脑区（如海马体）中也有报道。遗传学和药理学研究表明，抑制这种皮质LTP有助于减少由损伤引起的行为敏化以及损伤诱导的情绪变化。在这篇综述中，我们将总结与不同形式皮质LTP的突触机制及其对行为性疼痛和情绪变化可能的贡献相关的最新进展。
