Decades of research advances have established a central role for endogenous opioid
systems in regulating reward processing, mood, motivation, learning and memory …

Chronic pain patients suffer a disrupted quality of life not only from the experience of pain
itself, but also from comorbid symptoms such as depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment …

Pain decreases the activity of many ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine (DA) neurons,
yet the underlying neural circuitry connecting nociception and the DA system is not …

The development of physical dependence and addiction disorders due to misuse of opioid
analgesics is a major concern with pain therapeutics. We developed a mouse model of …

Our recent study demonstrated the critical role of the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) circuit and
its brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) signaling in mediating neuropathic pain. The …

Neuroplasticity in cortico-limbic circuits has been implicated in pain persistence and pain
modulation in clinical and preclinical studies. The amygdala has emerged as a key player in …

Emerging evidence suggests that the mesolimbic dopaminergic network plays a role in the
modulation of pain. As chronic pain conditions are associated with hypodopaminergic tone …

Accumulating evidence suggests hippocampal impairment under the chronic pain
phenotype. However, it is unknown whether neuropathic behaviors are related to …

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) regulates a wide range of sensory experiences. Chronic pain is
known to impair normal neural response, leading to enhanced aversion. However, it …

There is increasing recognition of the involvement of the nigrostriatal and mesolimbic
dopamine systems in the modulation of chronic pain. The first part of the present article …