Cerebral cortex modulation of pain  

作　　者：Yu-feng XIE Fu-quan HUO Jing-shi TANG 

机构地区：[1]Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, Ministry of Education, Xi'an Jiao-tong University, Xi'an 710061, China [2]Department of Pharmacology, Health Science Centre, University of Tennessee, USA

出　　处：《Acta Pharmacologica Sinica》2009年第1期31-41,共11页中国药理学报（英文版）

基　　金：Acknowledgement Project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China （No 30570592, 30800334）. The authors thank Dr BarryJ SESSLE. Professor of Oral Physiology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, for his expert help in reviewing the manuscript.

摘　　要：Pain is a complex experience encompassing sensory-discriminative, affective-motivational and cognitiv e-emotional components mediated by different mechanisms. Contrary to the traditional view that the cerebral cortex is not involved in pain perception, an extensive cortical network associated with pain processing has been revealed using multiple methods over the past decades. This network consistently includes, at least, the anterior cingulate cortex, the agranular insular cortex, the primary （SⅠ） and secondary somatosensory （SⅡ） cortices, the ventrolateral orbital cortex and the motor cortex. These cortical structures constitute the medial and lateral pain systems, the nucleus submedius-ventrolateral orbital cortex-periaqueductal gray system and motor cortex system, respectively. Multiple neurotransmitters, including opioid, glutamate, GABA and dopamine, are involved in the modulation of pain by these cortical structures. In addition, glial cells may also be involved in cortical modulation of pain and serve as one target for pain management research. This review discusses recent studies of pain modulation by these cerebral cortical structures in animals and human.Pain is a complex experience encompassing sensory-discriminative, affective-motivational and cognitiv e-emotional components mediated by different mechanisms. Contrary to the traditional view that the cerebral cortex is not involved in pain perception, an extensive cortical network associated with pain processing has been revealed using multiple methods over the past decades. This network consistently includes, at least, the anterior cingulate cortex, the agranular insular cortex, the primary （SⅠ） and secondary somatosensory （SⅡ） cortices, the ventrolateral orbital cortex and the motor cortex. These cortical structures constitute the medial and lateral pain systems, the nucleus submedius-ventrolateral orbital cortex-periaqueductal gray system and motor cortex system, respectively. Multiple neurotransmitters, including opioid, glutamate, GABA and dopamine, are involved in the modulation of pain by these cortical structures. In addition, glial cells may also be involved in cortical modulation of pain and serve as one target for pain management research. This review discusses recent studies of pain modulation by these cerebral cortical structures in animals and human.

关 键 词：anterior cingulate cortex agranular insular cortex ventrolateral orbital cortex periaqueductal gray primary and secondarysomatosensory cortices motor cortex nociception. 

分 类 号：R338.25[医药卫生—人体生理学]