The trigeminal ganglion (TG) is the primary site of aberration in trigeminal neuralgia (TN), and hence a crucial site where afferent input can be modulated. Here, we postulated that inhibiting TG via optogenetics using flexible optic cannula would diminish brainstem trigeminal nucleus caudalis (TNC) neuronal activity and pain behavior in TN rat model. Infraorbital nerve constriction was employed to induce TN in female Sprague-Dawley rats, while naive and sham rats served as controls. TG-directed ...