Identification of a novel spinal nociceptive-motor gate control for Aδ pain stimuli in rats
- National Institutes of Health, United States
Abstract
Physiological responses to nociceptive stimuli are initiated within tens of milliseconds, but the corresponding sub-second behavioral responses have not been adequately explored in awake, unrestrained animals. A detailed understanding of these responses is crucial for progress in pain neurobiology. Here, high-speed videography during nociceptive Aδ fiber stimulation demonstrated engagement of a multi-segmental motor program coincident with, or even preceding, withdrawal of the stimulated paw. The motor program included early head orientation and adjustments of the torso and un-stimulated paws. Moreover, we observed a remarkably potent gating mechanism when the animal was standing on its hindlimbs and which was partially dependent on the endogenous opioid system. These data reveal a profound, immediate and precise integration of nociceptive inputs with ongoing motor activities leading to the initiation of complex, yet behaviorally appropriate, response patterns and the mobilization of a new type of analgesic mechanism within this early temporal nociceptive window.
Article and author information
Author details
Michael James O'Donovan
Michael J Iadarola
Funding
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (Intramural Research Program)
- Dvir Blivis
- Gal Haspel
- Michael James O'Donovan
National Institutes of Health (Clinical Center Intramural Research Program)
- Michael J Iadarola
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (Intramural Research Program)
- Philip Z Mannes
- Michael J Iadarola
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health. All of the animals were handled and procedures conducted according to approved animal care and use committee (ACUC) protocol (#10-555).
Copyright
This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
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Identification of a novel spinal nociceptive-motor gate control for Aδ pain stimuli in rats
eLife 6:e23584.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.23584
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