Cited by 313Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorPain Mechanisms and TreatmentsPain Management and Placebo Effect

Pain relief produces negative reinforcement through activation of mesolimbic reward-valuation circuitry

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Navratilova, Edita, Xie, Jennifer Y., Okun, Alec, Qu, Chaoling, Eyde, Nathan, Ci, Shuang, Ossipov, Michael H., King, Tamara +2 more·2012·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Abstract

Relief of pain is rewarding. Using a model of experimental postsurgical pain we show that blockade of afferent input from the injury with local anesthetic elicits conditioned place preference, activates ventral tegmental dopaminergic cells, and increases dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. Importantly, place preference is associated with increased activity in midbrain dopaminergic neurons and blocked by dopamine antagonists injected into the nucleus accumbens. The data directly support the hypothesis that relief of pain produces negative reinforcement through activation of the mesolimbic reward–valuation circuitry.

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  • Mesolimbic dopamine projections from VTA to NAc are important in analgesic effects induced by placebo and stress, pain relief, and changes in motivated behavior caused by chronic pain.

    “mesolimbic dopamine projections from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the NAc are important in the analgesic effects induced by placebo and stress [55],[82], pain relief [58],[83], and the changes in motivated behavior caused by chronic pain [84].”

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Authors
Navratilova, E., Xie, J. Y., Okun, A., Qu, C., Eyde, N., Ci, S., Ossipov, M. H., King, T., Fields, H. L., & Porreca, F.
Affiliations
  • University of Arizona (US)
  • University of New England (US)
  • University of California, San Francisco (US)
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2012-11-26
Volume
109
Issue
50
Pages
20709-20713
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
OpenAlex
W2052380247
Cited by
313
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 17
FWCI
7.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA034975)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
Keywords
analgesia, negative reinforcement, mesolimbic reward circuitry, postoperative pain, conditioned place preference, ventral tegmental area, dopaminergic neurons, nucleus accumbens, dopamine release, local anesthetics, dopamine antagonists
MeSH terms
Afferent Pathways, Anesthetics, Local, Animals, Disease Models, Animal, Limbic System, Male, Models, Neurological, Nerve Block, Nucleus Accumbens, Pain, Pain, Postoperative, Postoperative Pain, Reinforcement, Psychology, Reward, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Ventral Tegmental Area, Dopamine Antagonists, Rats

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