Abbreviations: ECBS, Endocannabinoids; AEA, An amide hydrolase; CB1, Cannabinoid type 1 receptor; CB2 TRPV1, Transient potential vanilloid type 1 receptor; CBD, tex; MPFC, Medial prefrontal córtex; PL, Prelimbic; HI Hippocampus; PAG, Periaqueductal gray matter; THC, Δ9 Elevated plusmaze; VCT, Vogel conflict test; AP, Anteropos ⁎ Corresponding author at: Pharmacology Departme Preto, University o...

Opioids are the most widely used drugs for long-term pain management, but their use is limited by the development of antinociceptive tolerance. The present study investigated the role of ceramide production through acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) activation in the periaqueductal gray region, a brain region implicated in opioid analgesia and tolerance. Morphine treatment was found, using immunohisto...

Several studies have shown that motor cortex stimulation provided pain relief by motor cortex plasticity and activating descending inhibitory pain control systems. Recent evidence indicated that the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) in the periaqueductal gray played an important role in neuropathic pain. This study was designed to assess whether MC4R signaling existed in motor cortex-periaqueducta...

This report describes the postcontrast MR findings of Wernicke encephalopathy seen in a malnourished 11-year-old boy. The examination showed increased signal on T2-weighted images in the periaqueductal gray matter and medial thalami. On T1-weighted acquisition, these areas showed decreased signal intensity, but on postcontrast T1-weighted examination, they showed moderately intense enhancement....

The synaptic long-term potentiation between primary afferent C-fibers and spinal lamina I projection neurons is a cellular model for hyperalgesia [Ikeda H, Heinke B, Ruscheweyh R, Sandkühler J (2003) Synaptic plasticity in spinal lamina I projection neurons that mediate hyperalgesia. Science 299:1237-1240]. In lamina I neurons with a projection to the periaqueductal gray, this long-term potenti...

This issue covers a broad territory of PAG function: neu-ropharmacology, functional organization, and PAG plasticity in adaptive behavior, emotion, anxiety, and the less-studied plasticity of the PAG function in females. Interest in the involvement of PAG in defensive behavior has a long history. Thinking about this area was radically changed by the seminal contributions of Bandler and DePaulis...

Human neuroimaging offers a powerful way to connect animal and human research on emotion, with profound implications for psychological science. However, the gulf between animal and human studies remains a formidable obstacle: Human studies typically focus on the cortex and a few subcortical regions such as the amygdala, whereas deeper structures such as the brainstem periaqueductal gray (PAG) p...