Mimicking opioid analgesia in cortical pain circuits.

ABSTRACT: The anterior cingulate cortex is a key brain region involved in the affective and motivational dimensions of pain, but how opioid analgesics modulate this cortical circuit remains unclear¹. Uncovering how opioids alter nociceptive neural dynamics to produce pain relief is essential for developing safer and more targeted treatments for chronic pain. Here we show that a population of cingulate neurons encodes spontaneous pain-related behaviours and is selectively modulated by morphine. Using deep learning behavioural analyses combined with longitudinal neural recordings in mice, we identified a persistent shift in cortical activity patterns following nerve injury that reflects the emergence of an unpleasant, affective chronic pain state. Morphine reversed these neuropathic neural

SUBMITTER: Oswell CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12823415 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature