Progress in the mechanism of acupuncture intervention on pain emotion and pain cognition mediated by limbic system

Abstract

Pain is a complex physiological and psychological activity, involving at least three dimensions, including pain sensation, pain emotion, and pain cognition. Acupuncture can clearly relieve the pain sensation of patients and improve pain emotion and pain cognition induced by pain; acupuncture participates in the multi-dimensional regulation of pain through brain regions of the limbic system such as anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), amygdala (AMY), and hippocampus. By analyzing relevant literature, it has been found that the regulation of acupuncture on pain emotion is mainly related to the activation of pertinent opioid receptors in the ACC, the decrease of the expression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and the promotion of the expression of glutamic acid (Glu) A1, metabotropic glutamate receptor-1 (mGluR1), and γ-aminobutyric acid aminobutyric acid (GABA) B2 protein in the AMY. The regulation of acupuncture on pain cognition is mainly related to the elevation of the expression of protein kinase A (PKA) and phospho-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (phospho-p38 MAPK) and the inhibition of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)/PKA/cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) signaling pathway in the ACC.

Neural circuit mechanisms of acupuncture effect: where are we now?

“…Acupuncture can modulate the emotional and motivational aspects of pain by influencing neural circuits within the limbic and reward systems, while also impacting the rewarding effects of pain. Recent studies have shed light on the role of the lateral hypothalamus (LH) in regulating neuropathic pain ( 43 ). The study found that LH neurons projecting from the lateral habenula (LHb) are involved in modulating neuropathic pain ( 44 ).…”