New insights into how the brain interprets visceral and somatic sensations

感觉神经纤维监测我们身体组织中的正常和异常刺激，将这些信息发送到大脑。我研究呼吸系统的感觉通路，它保护肺部免受有害刺激，如吸入污染物或烟雾。我发现呼吸感觉通路与大脑中来自其他身体组织的感觉回路相互作用。这个项目的目标是研究这种相互作用的一个例子：内脏和躯体感觉通路的汇聚到调节所体验到的感觉强度的大脑回路。这个项目解决了大脑如何处理两种相互竞争的有害感觉的根本问题。

Sensory nerve fibres monitor normal and abnormal stimuli in our body tissues, sending this information to the brain. I study the sensory pathways of the respiratory system which protect the lungs from harmful stimuli, such as inhaled pollutants or smoke. I discovered that respiratory sensory pathways interact with sensory circuits in the brain arising from other body tissues. The goal of this project is to investigate one example of this interaction; the convergence of visceral and somatic sensory pathways onto a brain circuit that regulates the intensity of the sensations that are experienced. This project addresses the fundamental question of how the brain processes two competing noxious sensations.