Neural circuit basis of placebo pain relief.

ABSTRACT: Placebo effects are notable demonstrations of mind-body interactions^1,2. During pain perception, in the absence of any treatment, an expectation of pain relief can reduce the experience of pain-a phenomenon known as placebo analgesia^3-6. However, despite the strength of placebo effects and their impact on everyday human experience and the failure of clinical trials for new therapeutics⁷, the neural circuit basis of placebo effects has remained unclear. Here we show that analgesia from the expectation of pain relief is mediated by rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) neurons that project to the pontine nucleus (rACC→Pn)-a precerebellar nucleus with no established function in pain. We created a behavioural assay that generates placebo-like anticipatory pa

SUBMITTER: Chen C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11358037 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature