Top-down descending facilitation of spinal sensory excitatory transmission from the anterior cingulate cortex

Tao Chen, Wataru Taniguchi, Qi-Yu Chen, Hidetoshi Tozaki-Saitoh, Qian Song, Ren-Hao Liu, Kohei Koga, Tsuyoshi Matsuda, Yae Kaito-Sugimura, Jian Wang, Zhi-Hua Li, Ya-Cheng Lu, Kazuhide Inoue, Makoto Tsuda, Yun-Qing Li (), Terumasa Nakatsuka () and Min Zhuo ()
Additional contact information
Tao Chen: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Wataru Taniguchi: Kansai University of Health Sciences, Kumatori
Qi-Yu Chen: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Hidetoshi Tozaki-Saitoh: Kyushu University
Qian Song: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Ren-Hao Liu: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Kohei Koga: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Tsuyoshi Matsuda: Kyushu University
Yae Kaito-Sugimura: Kansai University of Health Sciences, Kumatori
Jian Wang: The Fourth Military Medical University
Zhi-Hua Li: The Fourth Military Medical University
Ya-Cheng Lu: The Fourth Military Medical University
Kazuhide Inoue: Kyushu University
Makoto Tsuda: Kyushu University
Yun-Qing Li: The Fourth Military Medical University
Terumasa Nakatsuka: Kansai University of Health Sciences, Kumatori
Min Zhuo: Xi’an Jiaotong University

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Abstract Spinal sensory transmission is under descending biphasic modulation, and descending facilitation is believed to contribute to chronic pain. Descending modulation from the brainstem rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) has been the most studied, whereas little is known about direct corticospinal modulation. Here, we found that stimulation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) potentiated spinal excitatory synaptic transmission and this modulation is independent of the RVM. Peripheral nerve injury enhanced the spinal synaptic transmission and occluded the ACC-spinal cord facilitation. Inhibition of ACC reduced the enhanced spinal synaptic transmission caused by nerve injury. Finally, using optogenetics, we showed that selective activation of ACC-spinal cord projecting neurons caused behavioral pain sensitization, while inhibiting the projection induced analgesic effects. Our results provide strong evidence that ACC stimulation facilitates spinal sensory excitatory transmission by a RVM-independent manner, and that such top-down facilitation may contribute to the process of chronic neuropathic pain.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04309-2

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