Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Pain01:20

Pain

1.2K
Pain serves as a critical warning signal that alerts the body to potential or actual harm. When mechanical pressure on the skin is intense, such as from a sharp pinch, the sensation transitions from touch to pain. Similarly, extreme temperatures, like a hot pot handle, convert the sensation of heat into pain. Pain can also result from overstimulation of other senses, such as blinding light, loud noise, or the intense heat from habañero peppers. This ability to sense pain is essential for...
1.2K
Nociception01:44

Nociception

32.9K
Nociception—the ability to feel pain—is essential for an organism’s survival and overall well-being. Noxious stimuli such as piercing pain from a sharp object, heat from an open flame, or contact with corrosive chemicals are first detected by sensory receptors, called nociceptors, located on nerve endings. Nociceptors express ion channels that convert noxious stimuli into electrical signals. When these signals reach the brain via sensory neurons, they are perceived as pain.
32.9K
Cognitive Theories: Schachter-Singer Theory of Emotion01:20

Cognitive Theories: Schachter-Singer Theory of Emotion

1.4K
Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer proposed the two-factor theory of emotion, which emphasizes the interplay between physiological arousal and cognitive labeling in forming emotional experiences. This theory suggests that emotions are not simply a result of physiological responses but rather a combination of these responses and the individual's cognitive interpretation of them.
Physiological Arousal and Cognitive Labeling
According to this theory, when an individual experiences...
1.4K
Analgesia and Pain Management01:25

Analgesia and Pain Management

1.4K
Pain is critical to various clinical pathologies, provoking an urgent need for effective management. Pain, whether acute or chronic, is a complex neurochemical process. Its alleviation depends on the type, with nonopioid analgesics effective for mild to moderate pain, such as musculoskeletal or inflammatory pain, while neuropathic pain responds best to anticonvulsants, tricyclic antidepressants, or serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. For severe acute or chronic pain, opioids may be...
1.4K
Cognitive Learning01:21

Cognitive Learning

949
Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight learning.
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
949
Cognitive Theories: Lazarus Mediational Theory of Emotion01:17

Cognitive Theories: Lazarus Mediational Theory of Emotion

1.9K
Richard Lazarus' cognitive mediational theory highlights the pivotal role of cognitive appraisal in shaping emotional responses. According to this theory, the evaluation of a stimulus — based on personal values, goals, beliefs, and expectations — mediates the emotional response. This appraisal process is immediate and often occurs unconsciously, influencing the intensity and nature of the resulting emotion.
Cognitive Appraisal and Emotional Response
Lazarus proposed that...
1.9K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Regional heterogeneity in phenotypic and genetic associations between bone and brain in humans.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

A corticospinal signature for interindividual pain sensitivity.

Nature communications·2025
Same author

Perceived sensorimotor synchrony enhances pain modulation and attenuates laser-evoked potentials.

Communications biology·2025
Same author

Neural network dynamics underlying the bottom-up perception and top-down regulation processes of empathy.

Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.)·2025
Same author

Neural variability reliably encodes interindividual differences in the perception of pain intensity.

PLoS biology·2025
Same author

Exploring Empathic Responses to Others' Positive and Negative Experiences: Insights from Empathy Subprocesses.

Neuroscience bulletin·2025
Same journal

A Matter of Parameters: Tailored Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Enhances Cortico-Thalamo-Cortical Circuit Resonance.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Proactive visual and motor prioritization differentially scale with cue reliability.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Erratum: Yao et al., "Estrogen Regulates Bcl-w and Bim Expression: Role in Protection against β-Amyloid Peptide-Induced Neuronal Death".

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Erratum: L'Episcopo et al., "Plasticity of Subventricular Zone Neuroprogenitors in MPTP (1-Methyl-4-Phenyl-1,2,3,6-Tetrahydropyridine) Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease Involves Cross Talk between Inflammatory and Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathways: Functional Consequences for Neuroprotection and Repair".

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

Representations of subsecond duration-based timing by complex spike synchrony in cerebellar Purkinje neurons.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
Same journal

The extended language network: Language-responsive brain areas whose contributions to language remain to be discovered.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 4, 2026

Investigating Pain-Related Avoidance Behavior using a Robotic Arm-Reaching Paradigm
09:00

Investigating Pain-Related Avoidance Behavior using a Robotic Arm-Reaching Paradigm

Published on: October 3, 2020

4.4K

Mesocorticolimbic Pathways Encode Cue-Based Expectancy Effects on Pain.

Yiheng Tu1, Yanzhi Bi2,3, Libo Zhang2,3

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|November 8, 2019
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Positive and negative expectations influence pain perception by altering brain pathways. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) connections to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) are key to these effects, impacting pain responses.

Keywords:
conditioned pain responsesexpectancy effectsmesocortical pathwaymesolimbic pathwayventral tegmental area (VTA)

More Related Videos

Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats
06:57

Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats

Published on: February 4, 2016

11.4K
Assessment of Cocaine-induced Behavioral Sensitization and Conditioned Place Preference in Mice
10:28

Assessment of Cocaine-induced Behavioral Sensitization and Conditioned Place Preference in Mice

Published on: February 18, 2016

17.8K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 4, 2026

Investigating Pain-Related Avoidance Behavior using a Robotic Arm-Reaching Paradigm
09:00

Investigating Pain-Related Avoidance Behavior using a Robotic Arm-Reaching Paradigm

Published on: October 3, 2020

4.4K
Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats
06:57

Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats

Published on: February 4, 2016

11.4K
Assessment of Cocaine-induced Behavioral Sensitization and Conditioned Place Preference in Mice
10:28

Assessment of Cocaine-induced Behavioral Sensitization and Conditioned Place Preference in Mice

Published on: February 18, 2016

17.8K

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Pain Research
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Expectations, particularly reward-related ones, can modulate pain perception.
  • The ventral tegmental area (VTA) and its projections to the striatum (nucleus accumbens, NAc) and prefrontal cortex (rostral anterior cingulate cortex, rACC) are implicated in reward processing.
  • The precise role of these mesocorticolimbic pathways in encoding expectation effects on pain is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the functional and structural roles of mesocorticolimbic pathways in mediating expectancy effects on pain.
  • To examine how positive and negative expectations influence pain anticipation via VTA projections.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a visual cue conditioning paradigm with a prolonged pain anticipation period.
  • Collected multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 30 healthy participants.
  • Employed whole-brain functional connectivity (FC), mediation, and multivariate pattern analyses.

Main Results:

  • Enhanced VTA-rACC and VTA-NAc functional connectivity (FC) correlated with positive expectations, while negative expectations showed inhibition during anticipation.
  • Expectancy effects on pain were primarily mediated by VTA-NAc FC.
  • Gray matter volumes in the VTA, NAc, and rACC predicted individual differences in conditioned pain responses.

Conclusions:

  • Mesocorticolimbic pathways, including the VTA, NAc, and rACC, are crucial for encoding expectancy effects on pain.
  • Both functional connectivity and structural gray matter volume in these regions contribute to how expectations shape pain perception.
  • Findings advance understanding of the reward system's interaction with pain expectation.