Deciphering Authentic Nociceptive Thalamic Responses in Rats  

作　　者：Zhenjiang Li Libo Zhang Fengrui Zhang Lupeng Yue Li Hu 

机构地区：[1]CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health,Institute of Psychology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,100101 Beijing,China [2]Department of Psychology,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,100049 Beijing,China

出　　处：《Research》2024年第4期636-650,共15页研究(英文)

基　　金：supported by grants from the Beijing Natural Science Foundation(JQ22018);the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32071061);the STl2030-Major Projects(2022ZD0206400).

摘　　要：The thalamus and its cortical connections play a pivotal role in pain information processing,yet the exploration of its electrophysiological responses to nociceptive stimuli has been limited.Here,in 2 experiments we recorded neural responses to nociceptive laser stimuli in the thalamic(ventral posterior lateral nucleus and medial dorsal nucleus)and cortical regions(primary somatosensory cortex[S1]and anterior cingulate cortex)within the lateral and medial pain pathways.We found remarkable similarities in laser-evoked brain responses that encoded pain intensity within thalamic and cortical regions.Contrary to the expected temporal sequence of ascending information flow,the recorded thalamic response(N1)was temporally later than its cortical counterparts,suggesting that it may not be a genuine thalamusgenerated response.Importantly,we also identified a distinctive component in the thalamus,i.e.,the early negativity(EN)occurring around 100 ms after the onset of nociceptive stimuli.This EN component represents an authentic nociceptive thalamic response and closely synchronizes with the directional information flow from the thalamus to the cortex.These findings underscore the importance of isolating genuine thalamic neural responses,thereby contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the thalamic function in pain processing.Additionally,these findings hold potential clinical implications,particularly in the advancement of closed-loop neuromodulation treatments for neurological diseases targeting this vital brain region.

关 键 词：CORTEX MEDIAL EVOKED 

分 类 号：R33[医药卫生—人体生理学]