Combined Experiments with in Vivo Fiber Photometry and Behavior Tests Can Facilitate the Measurement of Neuronal Activity in the Primary Somatosensory Cortex and Hyperalgesia in an Inflammatory Pain Mice Model

The pain matrix, which includes several brain regions that respond to pain sensation, contribute to the development of chronic pain. Thus, it is essential to understand the mechanism of causing chronic pain in the pain matrix such as anterior cingulate (ACC), or primary somatosensory (S1) cortex. Recently, combined experiment with the behavior tests and in vivo calcium imaging using fiber photometry revealed the interaction between the neuronal function in deep brain regions of the pain matrix including ACC and the phenotype of chronic pain. However, it remains unclear whether this combined experiment can identify the interaction between neuronal activity in S1, which receive pain sensation, and pain behaviors such as hyperalgesia or allodynia. In this study, to examine whether the interaction between change of neuronal activity in S1 and hyperalgesia in hind paw before and after causing inflammatory pain was detected from same animal, the combined experiment of in vivo fiber photometry system and von Frey hairs test was applied. This combined experiment detected that amplitude of calcium responses in S1 neurons increased and the mechanical threshold of hind paw decreased from same animals which have an inflammatory pain. Moreover, we found that the values between amplitude of calcium responses and mechanical thresholds were shifted to negative correlation after causing inflammatory pain. Thus, the combined experiment with fiber photometry and the behavior tests has a possibility that can simultaneously consider the interaction between neuronal activity in pain matrix and pain induced behaviors and the effects of analgesics or pain treatments.