Dynamic Mechanisms of Pain Modulation

描述（由申请人提供）：与疼痛相关的疾病给人类带来了无法估量的痛苦，并带来了重大的经济问题。由于缺乏处理疼痛相关信息的基本神经机制的信息，这些疾病的新治疗方法的发展受到阻碍。迄今为止，对促进疼痛的动态激活机制的研究已经为慢性疼痛的神经生理学和神经药理学提供了实质性的见解。然而，对抑制机制的动态反应特性的理解仍然有限，尽管事实上抑制的破坏也可能在很大程度上导致慢性疼痛。最近发现的一种镇痛现象，补偿镇痛，为研究抑制机制的动态激活提供了有力的工具。一系列人类受试者的心理物理研究将系统地描述急性疼痛状态下启动和维持补偿镇痛的神经生理和神经药理学机制，并确定中断补偿镇痛对病理生理疼痛状态的贡献。总之，这些研究将显著提高我们对疼痛的基本神经机制的认识，并将为开发新的疼痛治疗方法奠定基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Pain-related disorders cause an incalculable toll in human suffering and present a significant economic problem. The development of new treatments for these disorders is hindered by a lack of information about the basic neural mechanisms that process pain-related information. To date, investigations of the dynamic activation of mechanisms that facilitate pain have provided substantial insights into the neurophysiology and neuropharmacology of chronic pain. However, understanding of the dynamic response properties of inhibitory mechanisms has remained limited, despite the fact that disruption of inhibition may also contribute substantially to chronic pain. A recently identified analgesic phenomenon, offset analgesia, provides a powerful tool for the study of dynamic activation of inhibitory mechanisms. A series of psychophysical studies in humans subjects will systematically delineate the neurophysiological and neuropharmacological mechanisms that initiate and maintain offset analgesia during acute pain states, and determine the contribution of disrupted offset analgesia to pathophysiological pain states. Together, these studies will significantly enhance our knowledge of basic neural mechanisms underlying pain and will provide a foundation for the development of novel treatments for pain.