What Causes Chronic Pain? Scientists Identify Key Culprit in the Brain

Researchers identified a small brain circuit, the caudal granular insular cortex (CGIC), that controls whether pain becomes chronic.

In rats, chemogenetic silencing of the CGIC prevented chronic pain after nerve injury and reversed established allodynia.

The CGIC communicates with the somatosensory cortex and then the spinal cord to sustain pain signals over time.

The study used fluorescent proteins and targeted neuronal control to map and manipulate the pathway, suggesting new non-opioid treatment targets.