Anterior cingulate inputs to nucleus accumbens control the social transfer of pain and analgesia
Open accessAbstract
Social transmission of pain and relief: In mice, both pain and fear can be transferred by short social contact from one animal to a bystander. Neurons in a brain region called the anterior cingulate cortex in the bystander animal mediate these transfers. However, the specific anterior cingulate projections involved in such empathy-related behaviors are unknown. Smith et al. found that projections from the anterior cingulate cortex to the nucleus accumbens are necessary for the social transfer of pain in mice (see the Perspective by Klein and Gogolla). Fear, however, was mediated by projections from the anterior cingulate cortex to the basolateral amygdala. Interestingly, in animals with pain, analgesia can also be transferred socially. Science , this issue p. 153 ; see also p. 122
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The mere experience of being housed with a conspecific in an aversive or painful state can induce allodynia and hyperalgesia in mice.
“Even the mere experience of being housed with a conspecific in an aversive or painful state can induce allodynia and hyperalgesia in mice [90,97,98].”
From Neural circuits regulating prosocial behaviors (2023) · cites this paper as [98]
Projections from the anterior cingulate cortex and insula to the basolateral amygdala have been implicated in social transfer of fear.
“Projections from the ACC and insula to the BLA have been implicated in this form of emotional contagion.”
From Neural circuits regulating prosocial behaviors (2023) · cites this paper as [98]
Inhibition of anterior cingulate cortex projections to the basolateral amygdala prevents the acquisition of fear, as assessed by freezing, in observer mice.
“Specifically, there is an increase in ACC activity in voles exposed to a stressed partner [93] and inhibition of ACC projections to the BLA prevents the acquisition of fear, as assessed by freezing, in observer mice [98,102,103].”
From Neural circuits regulating prosocial behaviors (2023) · cites this paper as [98]
Inhibition of anterior cingulate cortex-to-nucleus accumbens core projections suppressed the social transfer of analgesia, which occurred when bystander mice in pain were exposed to a mouse in pain experiencing morphine-induced analgesia.
“Inhibition of this circuit element also suppressed the social transfer of analgesia, which occurred when bystander mice in pain were exposed to a mouse in pain that was experiencing morphineinduced analgesia [98].”
From Neural circuits regulating prosocial behaviors (2023) · cites this paper as [98]
Optogenetic modulation of anterior cingulate cortex-to-nucleus accumbens core projections during social interaction bidirectionally regulated the social transfer of pain.
“At the circuit level, optogenetic modulation of ACC-to-NAc core projections during the social interaction bidirectionally regulated the social transfer of pain [98].”
From Neural circuits regulating prosocial behaviors (2023) · cites this paper as [98]
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- Authors
- Smith, M. L., Asada, N., & Malenka, R. C.
- Affiliations
- Stanford University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Malenka, Robert C.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2021-01-08
- Volume
- 371
- Issue
- 6525
- Pages
- 153-159
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- PMC
- PMC7952019
- OpenAlex
- W3120854869
- Cited by
- 368
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 53 · 2025: 75 · 2024: 86 · 2023: 72 · 2022: 52 · 2021: 30
- FWCI
- 37.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (T32DA035165)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- empathy, anterior cingulate cortex, nucleus accumbens, morphine analgesia, social pain, basolateral amygdala, optogenetics
- MeSH terms
- Analgesia, Animals, Communication, Empathy, Fear, Female, Gyrus Cinguli, Male, Morphine, Nucleus Accumbens, Pain, Mice, Optogenetics, Basolateral Nuclear Complex
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