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Sound induces analgesia through corticothalamic circuits.
Wenjie Zhou1, Chonghuan Ye1, Haitao Wang2,3
1Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, PR China.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|July 20, 2022
Summary
Low-signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) sounds reduce pain by inhibiting auditory cortex pathways to the thalamus in mice. This discovery sheds light on the neural basis of sound-induced pain relief.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Auditory system
- Pain processing
Background:
- Sound, including music and noise, can alleviate pain in humans.
- The neural mechanisms behind sound-induced analgesia are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying sound-promoted analgesia.
- To identify the specific brain circuits involved in sound-induced pain relief.
Main Methods:
- Utilized viral tracing, microendoscopic calcium imaging, and multitetrode recordings in mice.
- Employed optogenetic and chemogenetic techniques to manipulate neural circuits.
- Assessed analgesic effects in inflamed paws.
Main Results:
- Analgesic effects of sound were dependent on a low (5-decibel) signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
- Low-SNR sounds inhibited glutamatergic inputs from the auditory cortex (ACxGlu) to the thalamic posterior (PO) and ventral posterior (VP) nuclei.
- Inhibition of ACxGlu→PO and ACxGlu→VP circuits mimicked sound-induced analgesia, while activation abolished it.
Conclusions:
- Identified specific corticothalamic circuits (ACxGlu→PO and ACxGlu→VP) mediating sound-promoted analgesia.
- Demonstrated the role of the auditory system in modulating pain perception.
- Revealed that low-SNR sound-induced analgesia is dependent on the inhibition of specific auditory pathways.
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