The developmental emergence of differential brainstem serotonergic control of the sensory spinal cord

Abstract Descending connections from brainstem nuclei are known to exert powerful control of spinal nociception and pain behaviours in adult mammals. Here we present evidence that descending serotonergic fibres not only inhibit nociceptive activity, but also facilitate non-noxious tactile activity i...

Description complète

Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: F. Schwaller, A. H. Kanellopoulos, M. Fitzgerald
Format: article
Langue:EN
Publié: Nature Portfolio 2017
Sujets:
R
Q
Accès en ligne:https://doaj.org/article/f6ffad880eb04ccbae388f1cbce29b6a
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
Description
Résumé:Abstract Descending connections from brainstem nuclei are known to exert powerful control of spinal nociception and pain behaviours in adult mammals. Here we present evidence that descending serotonergic fibres not only inhibit nociceptive activity, but also facilitate non-noxious tactile activity in the healthy adult rat spinal dorsal horn via activation of spinal 5-HT3 receptors (5-HT3Rs). We further show that this differential serotonergic control in the adult emerges from a non-modality selective system in young rats. Serotonergic fibres exert background 5-HT3R mediated facilitation of both tactile and nociceptive spinal activity in the first three postnatal weeks. Thus, differential descending serotonergic control of spinal touch and pain processing emerges in late postnatal life to allow flexible and context-dependent brain control of somatosensation.