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

神经性疼痛是由神经系统损伤引起的。常见的原因包括糖尿病（疼痛性糖尿病性神经病变）等疾病和脊髓损伤等创伤。这种类型的疼痛知之甚少，难以管理，并对生活质量产生广泛的影响。患者描述的最常见的并发症之一是睡眠中断，尽管目前尚不清楚它是疼痛本身的直接结果还是止痛药的副作用，或者两者兼而有之。此外，有早期证据表明睡眠中断本身可能导致神经性疼痛恶化。在神经性疼痛的情况下，睡眠模式的管理可能与治疗疼痛本身一样重要。我的研究计划重点关注神经性疼痛与睡眠之间的相互关系。我使用一个强大的神经性疼痛的动物模型，脊髓损伤，研究神经性疼痛及其对睡眠的影响，反之亦然。在我的实验室里，我们有独特的工具来记录自由活动的动物的睡眠，使它们能够表现出正常的行为。将这些工具与评估疼痛的既定技能相结合，我们将能够发现：1。神经性疼痛导致睡眠中断和这种中断的形式（例如入睡困难）和2.睡眠模式的改变如何影响神经性疼痛这项研究的发现对我们理解疼痛和睡眠如何相互调节具有重要意义，提高了我们更有效地研究每种情况的能力，并最终为神经性疼痛患者提供更有效的管理。预计我们从模型中学到的东西将适用于神经性疼痛的其他原因。该研究方案还将为各级受训人员（本科生和研究生以及技术人员）提供宝贵的培训和经验，为他们在学术界、政府和工业界的职业生涯做好准备。

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.