Unraveling the brain circuit linking physical pain to emotional suffering
Researchers at the Salk Institute have found a brain circuit in mice that links physical pain to emotional suffering.
This challenges the old idea that your body and mind process pain separately and could lead to new ways to treat both chronic pain and emotional issues.
How pain travels in the brain
Pain signals travel from the spinal cord to special CGRP neurons in a part of the thalamus, which then send messages to emotion centers like the amygdala.
When scientists turned off these neurons, mice felt less emotional distress from pain—but their sense of touch stayed normal.
Discovery could lead to new treatments for chronic pain
This discovery could help develop treatments that target both physical and emotional sides of pain—maybe even helping with conditions like PTSD or trauma.
Blocking CGRP might one day ease not just aches, but also some of the mental struggles that come with them.