A glutamatergic innervation from medial area of secondary visual cortex to lateral posterior thalamic nucleus facilitates nociceptive and neuropathic pain.

ABSTRACT: Neuropathic pain involves complex cortical mechanisms, yet the role of the medial secondary visual cortex (V2M) remains poorly understood. We hypothesized that glutamatergic neurons in V2M (V2M^Glu) contribute to pain modulation and explored their functional involvement in both normal and neuropathic pain states. Here, we found that V2M^Glu could be activated by peripheral stimulation under normal conditions. Optical inhibition or activation of unilateral V2M^Glu respectively decreased or increased bilateral nociceptive sensitivity, with activation also inducing aversive emotions. Tracing experiments revealed that V2M^Glu sends dense synaptic projections to the lateral posterior thalamic nucleus (LP) and lateral dorsal thalamic nucleus (LD). Notably,

SUBMITTER: Tan B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11897222 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature