{"doi":"10.1177/17448069221145096","title":"Dopamine receptor D2, but not D1, mediates the reward circuit from the ventral tegmental area to the central amygdala, which is involved in pain relief","abstract":"<jats:p>Pain involves both sensory and affective dimensions. The amygdala is a key player in linking nociceptive stimuli to negative emotional behaviors or affective states. Relief of pain is rewarding and activates brain reward circuits. Whether the reward circuit from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the central amygdala (CeA) is involved in pain relief remains unexplored. Using a model of experimental postsurgical pain, we found that pain relief elicited conditioned place preference (CPP), activated CeA-projecting dopaminergic cells in the VTA, and decreased dopaminergic D2 receptor expression in the CeA. Activation of the VTA–CeA neural pathway using optogenetic approaches relieved incisional pain. Administration of a D2 receptor agonist reversed the pain relief elicited by light-induced activation of the VTA-CeA pathway. These findings indicate that the VTA-CeA circuit is involved in pain relief in mice via dopamine receptor D2 in the CeA.</jats:p>","journal":"Molecular Pain","year":2022,"id":31569,"datarank":0.616923509635247,"base_score":3.044522437723423,"endowment":3.044522437723423,"self_citation_contribution":0.4566783656585135,"citation_network_contribution":0.16024514397673356,"self_endowment_contribution":0.4566783656585135,"citer_contribution":0.16024514397673356,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":20,"citer_count":15,"citers_with_citation_signal":9,"citers_with_endowment":9,"datacite_reuse_total":4,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":168898,"name":"Guoqing 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Mechanisms and Treatments","Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior","Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research","Medicine","Biology","Animals","Mice","Central Amygdaloid Nucleus","Pain","Receptors, Dopamine","Ventral Tegmental Area","Receptors, Dopamine D2","Receptors, Dopamine D1"],"mesh_terms":["Animals","Pain","Receptors, Dopamine","Receptors, Dopamine D1","Receptors, Dopamine D2","Ventral Tegmental Area","Mice","Central Amygdaloid Nucleus"],"keywords":["Ventral tegmental area","Optogenetics","Neuroscience","Dopaminergic","Dopamine","Amygdala","Dopaminergic pathways","Dopamine receptor D2","Psychology","Central nucleus of the amygdala","Conditioned place preference","Dopamine receptor","Reward system","Medicine","Pain Relief","D1","D2"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Good health and well-being"}],"linked_datasets":[{"doi":"10.6084/m9.figshare.26665738.v1","title":"Additional file 1 of Ventral tegmental area dopaminergic circuits participates in 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