Neural Circuits and Systems Neuroscience
Author: Fernando Kasanetz | Email: fkasanetz@fmed.uba.ar
Constanza Ilarraz1°2°, María Jesús Trujillo1°2°, Mario Acuña3°, Thomas Nevian3°, Fernando Kasanetz1°2°
1° Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Departamento de Ciencias Fisiológicas, Grupo de Neurociencia de Sistemas, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2° CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Fisiología y Biofísica Bernardo Houssay (IFIBIO Houssay), Buenos Aires, Argentina
3° Department of Physiology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
The perception of pain is a complex experience that arises from distributed brain activity, but how the brain encodes this experience remains unclear. The Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) plays a crucial role in processing the affective dimension of pain. Dense excitatory connections between the ACC and the dorso-medial striatum may serve as a primary pathway for transmitting nociceptive information to the mesolimbic system, which is essential for the motivational modulation of behavior. We hypothesize that the ACC cortico-striatal (ACC-CS) pathway encodes the selection of adaptive strategies to cope with pain.
Previous results from our group showed that chemogenetic inhibition of ACC-CS neurons interfere with the manifestation of pain aversion-related responses in a Conditioned Place Avoidance (CPA) paradigm, but the changes in neuronal activity that allow such behavior remain elusive. To address this issue, we recorded ACC-CS neuronal activity by imaging calcium transient in vivo using implantable miniature microscopes in mice subjected to the CPA test. Preliminary results show differential patterns of neuronal activity upon stimulation onset and the development of avoidance responses.
These findings highlight the critical role of the ACC-CS pathway in modulating pain-related behaviors and suggest potential targets for therapeutic intervention in pain management.