Electroacupuncture inhibited carrageenan-induced pain aversion by activating GABAergic neurons in the ACC

Abstract Pain aversion is an avoidance response to painful stimuli. Previous research has indicated that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in pain aversion processing. However, as interneurons, the role of GABAergic neurons in the ACC (GABA ACC neurons) in pain aversion is still unclear. Electroacupuncture (EA) has been shown to ameliorate pain aversion, but the mechanism is not clarified. The present study provided evidence that inhibition of GABA ACC neurons contributed to pain aversion. EA alleviated pain aversion by activating GABA ACC neurons in an intensity-dependent manner. Specifically, 0.3 mA EA stimulation showed better effects on pain aversion than 0.1 mA stimulation, which could be reversed by chemical genetic inhibition of GABA ACC neurons. These results provide a novel mechanism by which EA alleviates pain aversion by reversing GABA ACC neurons.