Development of an in vivo imaging system for the chronic study of mouse spinal cord function

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Chronic pain affects up to 1 in 5 adults and places a large economic and social burden on both societies and**individuals. Most of the current therapies for chronic pain are only weakly effective or have debilitating side**effects, such as addiction and withdrawal, that compound the reduced quality of life caused by pain. In this**project we will develop new approaches and devices to advance our understanding of how chronic pain can**arise. In collaboration with the innovative brain imaing company, Mightex, we will create a new system to**directly image the activity of cells in the spinal cord that respond to and process painful stimuli. We will use**this system to explore how the cells of the spinal cord begin to 'misprocess' sensory input in chronic pain, and**examine new approaches to restore normal spinal cord sensory function.