Papers of the Week

Comorbid anxiety in chronic pain is clinically common, with a comorbidity rate of over 50%. The main treatments are based on pharmacological, interventional, and implantable approaches, which have limited efficacy and carry a risk of side effects. Here, we report a terahertz (THz, 10 Hz) wave stimulation (THS) technique, which exerts nonthermal, long-term modulatory effects on neuronal activity by reducing the binding between nano-sized glutamate molecules and GluA2, leading to the relief of pain and comorbid anxiety-like behaviors in mice. In mice with co-occurring anxiety and chronic pain induced by complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) injection, hyperactivity was observed in glutamatergic neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Using whole-cell recording in ACC slices, we demonstrated that THS (34 THz) effectively inhibited the excitability of ACC. Moreover, molecular dynamics simulations showed that THS reduced the number of hydrogen bonds bound between glutamate molecules and GluA2. Furthermore, THS target to the ACC in CFA-treatment mice suppressed ACC hyperactivity and, as a result, alleviated pain and anxiety-like behaviors. Consistently, inhibition of ACC hyperactivity by chemogenetics mimics THS-induced antinociceptive and antianxiety behavior. Together, our study provides evidence for THS as an intervention technique for modulating neuronal activity and a viable clinical treatment strategy for pain and comorbid anxiety.