The discovery helps make new painkillers

US scientists have found that the nerve cells TAC1 are directly connected to the inner core of the thalamus and through the pathways through the parabrachial nucleus (parabrachial nucleus) to support the maintenance of long-lasting pain. , opening up the prospect of producing new generation painkillers.

According to Nature, neurologists from Harvard Medical School, USA, conducted tests in mice and isolated neurons that perceive prolonged pain, causing the body to pay attention. wound care. Tests have shown that this nerve mechanism causes mice, and perhaps other mammals, to lick their wounds. These are not nerve cells that make us stay away from a pain-causing object.

This discovery will help regulate the production of painkillers.

The authors of the study suggest that mammals, including humans, undergo two types of reactions to pain stimuli. The first is to avoid the source of the pain immediately - for example, pull your hand back when in contact with a hot object. The second is feeling long pain after injury. Until recently, science was still unclear about the source of the reaction to prolonged pain, but tests in mice revealed the principle of this mechanism.

Neuroscientists have focused their research on the lower part of the spinal cord, or rather on nerve cells, called TAC1 . Previously, scientists still did not fully understand the role of these cells, so they were chosen as subjects of research. A series of follow-up tests have demonstrated that these cells support long-term pain.

First, experts divide rodents into two groups. In the first group, mice were disabled from the activity of nerve cells TAC1, and in the second mice remained unchanged. Both groups cause different pain stimuli. Quick stimuli, such as touching hot and cold objects, all mice show similar reactions. However, after injecting mustard oil causing burns, behavior changed. Mice in the second group licked their feet for 15 minutes, trying to relieve the pain. The mice in the first group did not react to the same injury. Similar results are repeated when the foot is pinched.

The authors note that this reaction is similar to the actions of those in the hippocampus. Such people have had a stroke or tumor in this brain region, they also do not feel the pain lasting. Researchers have found that TAC1 neurons are directly connected to the nucleus of the thalamus and through pathways through the parabrachial nucleus (parabrachial nucleus).

Neuroscience biologist Qiufu Ma, the lead author of the study, said the discovery will help regulate the production of painkillers. Because modern pain relief treatments do not take into account the impact on those areas of the nervous system.

Previously, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, USA, identified neurons in the prefrontal cortex of the human body, responding to mistakes immediately after the occurrence (error-related negativity, ERN). Scientists believe further research in this direction will help treat obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia.