A novel bi-directional relationship between neuropathic pain and sleep.

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Neuropathic pain results from damage to the nervous system. Common causes include diseases such as diabetes (painful diabetic neuropathy), and trauma such as spinal cord injury. This type of pain is poorly understood, difficult to manage and has widespread consequences for quality of life. One of the most common complications described by patients is sleep disruption, though it is presently unclear if it is a direct result of pain itself or as a side effect of pain medication, or both. Additionally, there is early evidence that sleep disruption itself can result in a worsening of neuropathic pain. In the presence of neuropathic pain it may be that management of sleep patterns is just as important as treating pain itself. My programme of research focuses on this inter-relationship between neuropathic pain and sleep. I use a robust animal model of neuropathic pain, spinal cord injury, to study neuropathic pain and its effects on sleep, and vice versa. In my lab, we have unique tools to enable us to record sleep in freely moving animals, enabling them to exhibit normal behaviour. Combining these tools with established skills in assessing pain, we will be able to discover if: 1. neuropathic pain results in sleep disruption and the form this disruption takes (e.g. difficulty falling asleep) and 2. how manipulation of sleep patterns affects neuropathic pain. The findings of this research have important implications for our understanding of how pain and sleep modulate each other, increasing our ability to study each situation more effectively and ultimately provide more effective management of patients with neuropathic pain. It is anticipated that what we learn from our model will apply to other causes of of neuropathic pain. This research programme will also provide valuable training and experience for trainees of all levels (undergraduate and graduate students, and technicians), preparing them for careers in academia, government and industry.