Pain is a complex experience including sensory-discriminative and emotional-affective components. Base on the intensity and chronification of pain, pain is divided into physiological and pathological pain. Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which is activated by noxious and contextual stimuli, is involved in pain processing, especially affective pain, the neural mechanisms of the ACC involvement in affective pain have yet to be elaborated. This review summarizes the main progresses and recent findings from our and other laboratories regarding the ACC and affective pain. Most evidence provided new insights into the neural mechanisms underlying affective pain. Excitation of ACC pyramidal neurons is necessary and sufficient for the pain-related negative emotion. We also sketched other brain regions associated with the ACC and discussed the role of these brain regions in affective pain. Actually, it is likely that the neural network between these brain regions is critical for the negative affect of pain. In particular, the important advances within the optogenetic filed provide new opportunities to deepen and expand our understanding of the affective pain.

疼痛是一种复杂的体验，包括感觉上的区别和情感上的情感。根据疼痛的强度和时间顺序，疼痛分为生理性和病理性疼痛。由有害和情境刺激激活的前扣带回皮层（ACC）参与疼痛的过程，尤其是情感性疼痛，ACC参与情感性疼痛的神经机制尚未阐明。这篇综述总结了我们和其他实验室在ACC和情感性疼痛方面的主要进展和最近的发现。大多数证据为情感性疼痛的神经机制提供了新的见解。ACC锥体神经元的兴奋对于与疼痛相关的负面情绪是必要且充分的。我们还绘制了与ACC相关的其他大脑区域的草图，并讨论了这些大脑区域在情感性疼痛中的作用。实际上，这些大脑区域之间的神经网络可能对疼痛的负面影响至关重要。特别是，光遗传学领域的重要进展为加深和扩大我们对情感痛苦的理解提供了新的机会。