Numerous studies have shown that pain perception is strongly influenced by depression. However, very few studies have examined whether pain perception is altered in the remission period of depression, and what role the fronto-limbic circuits may play in the behavioral changes associated with remission. Using an unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) animal model of depression, the present study investigated pain-related behaviors in rats with prior exposure to a UCMS stimulus. The γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptor agonist muscimol was microinjected bilaterally into the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) to examine the modulation of pain by these brain regions in the recovery state. Rats with a depression-like history displayed increased ongoing pain behavior in the formalin test, although their thermal pain thresholds were unchanged. Intra-BLA muscimol during the recovery phase dramatically decreased formalin-induced pain behavior and also significantly increased rats' sucrose preference. By contrast, in the mPFC, muscimol produced the opposite effect, suggesting different, perhaps opposing, roles of the BLA and mPFC in mediating the influence of prior UCMS exposure on pain perception. Taken together, these results demonstrated that a depressive experience may cause long-term alterations in limbic circuit excitability and thus lead to long-lasting changes in pain perception.
Keywords: amygdala; depression; medial prefrontal cortex; pain.