2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Neural circuit of the thalamus-higher brain regions involved in the chronic pain.
Project/Area Number |
20K17811
|
Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
|
Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
Review Section |
Basic Section 55050:Anesthesiology-related
|
Research Institution | Kobe University |
Principal Investigator |
OKADA TAKUYA 神戸大学, 医学部附属病院, 助教 (70792935)
|
Project Period (FY) |
2020-04-01 – 2022-03-31
|
Keywords | 生体イメージング / 急性疼痛 / 神経回路 |
Outline of Final Research Achievements |
To elucidate the neural circuit of chronic pain, we first used chemogenetics to change the activity of a pathway in the posterior thalamic nucleus to cortical somatosensory cortex (S1), which is thought to be a transmission pain pathway, and found that it affects pain threshold. In addition, using two-photon holographic microscopy, which can selectively stimulate each neuron, we evaluated the functional connections between each neuron and found that the number of responding neurons in the surrounding area increased during the acute phase of pain compared to baseline, and the number of responding neurons decreased as the pain threshold improved. This study demonstrates the importance of the posterior thalamic nucleus to S1 pathway in the formation of pain and the enhancement of functional connections between S1 neurons during the acute phase of pain.
|
Free Research Field |
神経科学
|
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
痛みの形成に視床から感覚野(S1)の経路が重要であることが、化学遺伝学的手法という特殊な手法によって視床から感覚野の経路を活性化させたり抑制させることで痛みの閾値が変化することからわかった。また、任意の神経細胞を選択して刺激が出来る2光子ホログラフィック顕微鏡を使用して、痛みの強い時期に感覚野の神経細胞間の結合が強くなることがわかった。本研究により、痛みが慢性することに重要と考えられる局所の神経回路や神経細胞間の特徴が判明した。
|