Investigation of intracerebral processing of various somatosensory stimuli, mainlu painand itch.

关于人类的疼痛感知，我们开发了一种新的刺激电极，用于选择性刺激皮肤的疼痛特异性受体。这种针在世界范围内受到高度评价，许多研究人员和临床医生现在不仅将其用于基础研究，而且用于临床应用。关于人类的瘙痒感知，我们阐明了以下两种独特现象的脑内机制：（1）瘙痒具有传染性：当我们看到别人的皮肤看起来很痒时，我们也会觉得自己的皮肤很痒，有时想抓挠。 (2)搔抓发痒的皮肤时感到愉悦：当我们搔抓发痒的皮肤时，通常会感到愉悦并希望继续抓挠。我们发现，在这种情况下，我们大脑中的奖励系统会被激活。

Concerning pain perception in humans, we developed a new stimulus electrode for selectively stimulating pain-specific receptors of the skin. This needle is highly evaluated throughout the world, and many researchers and clinicians are now using this not only for basic studies but also for clinical application.Regarding itch perception in humans, we clarified intra-cerebral mechanisms for the following two unique phenomena: (1) Itch is contagious: When we look at other persons' skin appearing very itchy, we also feel that our skin is itchy and sometimes desire to scratch. (2) Feeling pleasantness while scratching itchy skin: When we scratch itchy skin, we usually feel pleasantness and desire to continue. We found that the reward system in our brain is activated in such a case.