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Dr. Chen, Chien-Chang

Research Fellow

Specialty:
  • Chronic Pain
  • Calcium Channel
  • Cardiovascular Disease

Education and Positions:
  • Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign


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Separate anterior paraventricular thalamus projections differentially regulate sensory and affective aspects of pain

Dr. Chen, Chien-Chang
Cell Reports, Nov 04, 2024

The experience of pain is complex, involving both sensory and affective components, yet the underlying neural mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we show that formalin-induced pain behaviors coincide with increased responses in glutamatergic neurons within the anterior paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVA). Furthermore, we describe non-overlapping subpopulations of PVAVgluT2 neurons involved in sensory and affective pain processing, whose activity varies across different pain states. Activating PVA glutamatergic neurons is sufficient to induce mechanical hypersensitivity and aversion behaviors, whereas suppression ameliorates formalin-induced pain. Furthermore, we identify the segregation of PVAVgluT2 projections to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and nucleus accumbens (NAc), each influencing specific aspects of pain-like behavior. This finding provides an important insight into the mechanism of distinct components of pain, highlighting the pivotal role of PVA in mediating different aspects of pain-like behavior with distinct circuits.