Are mood and pain controlled by a common mechanism?
It seems increasingly likely that pain and depression share a common underlying neurochemical dysfunction, which induces chronic pain or depressive symptoms as its initial manifestation. It is widely accepted that dysfunction of serotonergic and/or noradrenergic neurotransmission play a major part in the symptoms of depression [11]. Serotonergic cell bodies, located in the raphe nucleus, send projections to virtually all parts of the brain including the frontal cortex, basal ganglia and limbic areas, where they are involved in the control of mood, movement and emotions such as fear and anxiety [12]. In addition projections to the hypothalamus regulate basic behaviours such as eating, sexual activity and the feeling of pleasure. Similarly, noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus project throughout the brain including to the frontal cortex, the limbic areas and the hypothalamus where they share similar functions to serotononergic neurons with, in addition, a specific role in the reg
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