Chinese Journal of Nature ›› 2022, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (3): 213-224.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2022.03.004

• Review Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Progress in neural mechanisms of itch sensation

YU Su , XIE Songgang, CHEN Wenzhen , SUN Yangang   

  1. ①Department of Dermatology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China; ②College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China; ③State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
  • Received:2022-04-16 Online:2022-06-25 Published:2022-06-20

Abstract: Itch is an unpleasant feeling that elicits a strong desire to scratch. After being initiated at the skin, the itch signal is subsequently transferred down the spinal cord to the brain, where the itch information is processed. Our understanding of the peripheral and spinal mechanisms of itch has advanced significantly in recent years, but our knowledge of how brain neural circuits modulate itch is still limited. Aided by in vivo imaging techniques, researchers can decipher the neural mechanisms of itch sensation at the brain level. With the rapid progress of modern neurotechnologies, a series of significant achievements in central neural mechanisms of itch have been reported. The authors reviewed the recent advances in itch sensation from periphery to the central nervous system (CNS), focusing on chemical itch.