The comorbidity of chronic pain and mental dysfunctions such as depression and anxiety
disorders has long been recognized, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly
understood. Here, using a mouse model of neuropathic pain, we demonstrated neuronal
plasticity in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), which plays a critical role in
chronic pain–induced maladaptive anxiety. Electrophysiology demonstrated that chronic
pain increased inhibitory inputs to lateral hypothalamus (LH)–projecting BNST neurons …