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Although previous studies have suggested that IC may influence spinal nociceptive reflexes through direct or indirect top-down pathways, the specific effects of IC stimulation on spinal nociceptive transmission remain unclear. In this study, by combining in vivo whole-cell patch-clamp, behavioral and morphological approaches, we identified a direct projection from the IC to the contralateral dorsal spinal cord. To determine whether IC activation affect the spinal nociceptive reflex, we measured the spinal nociceptive tail-flick (TF) reflex during IC stimulation. We found that activating the IC by electric stimulation did not significantly alter the spinal TF reflex. Furthermore, in vivo whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from spinal dorsal horn neurons revealed that IC stimulation produced delayed inhibition of spontaneous excitatory transmission in some neurons, while exciting or having no significant effect on others. 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