Multiple Posterior Insula Projections to the Brainstem Descending Pain Modulatory System

Autor: Despoina Liang, Charalampos Labrakakis
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol 25, Iss 17, p 9185 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1422-0067
1661-6596
DOI: 10.3390/ijms25179185
Popis: The insular cortex is an important hub for sensory and emotional integration. It is one of the areas consistently found activated during pain. While the insular’s connections to the limbic system might play a role in the aversive and emotional component of pain, its connections to the descending pain system might be involved in pain intensity coding. Here, we used anterograde tracing with viral expression of mCherry fluorescent protein, to examine the connectivity of insular axons to different brainstem nuclei involved in the descending modulation of pain in detail. We found extensive connections to the main areas of descending pain control, namely, the periaqueductal gray (PAG) and the raphe magnus (RMg). In addition, we also identified an extensive insular connection to the parabrachial nucleus (PBN). Although not as extensive, we found a consistent axonal input from the insula to different noradrenergic nuclei, the locus coeruleus (LC), the subcoereuleus (SubCD) and the A5 nucleus. These connections emphasize a prominent relation of the insula with the descending pain modulatory system, which reveals an important role of the insula in pain processing through descending pathways.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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