Amygdala neuroplasticity in the transition to chronic pain
The transition from acute to chronic pain and the chronification of diseases in general are not well understood mechanistically.
The researchers demonstrate time- and cell-type-specific forms of neuroplasticity in chronic neuropathic pain in the amygdala, a brain region that is linked to the emotional affective aspects of pain and pain modulation.
The authors show that synaptic plasticity at the parabrachial (PB→CeA) to central nucleus of the amygdala pathway is lost in chronic neuropathic pain. They also demonstrate that chemogenetic inhibition of the PB→CeA pathway inhibits acute but not chronic pain behaviors.
Also, CeA hyperexcitability shifts from CRF to non-CRF neurons at the chronic pain stage and no longer depends on PB→CeA synaptic plasticity in chronic pain.
https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(24)01020-9
