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Pain Neuroscience news articles cover science research about pain receptors, nociceptors, nociception, sensory neurons, somatosensory cortex, chronic pain, acute pain, nocioceptors, musculoskeletal pain, therapies, phantom limb pain and other pain research.

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·October 25, 2023·3 min read

How Sleep Loss Amplifies Pain

Researchers discovered how sleep deprivation can exacerbate pain. Their study demonstrates that a neurotransmitter, N-arachidonoyl dopamine (NADA), decreases in a brain region called the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) due to sleep loss.

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·September 20, 2023·6 min read

Unlocking Non-Opioid Pain Relief: Acetylcholine’s Untapped Potential

Researchers have unveiled a groundbreaking discovery in the field of pain management: an alternative pathway in the brain that provides relief similar to opioids but without the addiction risks. This mechanism leverages the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) region of the brain.

Featured Neuroscience Pain Psychology

·August 7, 2023·4 min read

Untangling the Ties Between Chronic Pain and Mental Health

A recent commentary underscores the complex relationship between chronic pain and mental health disorders like depression and anxiety. The interaction is revealed to be driven by a bi-directional feedback loop, where physical pain impacts sleep and mood, making individuals more susceptible to mental health issues.

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·July 24, 2023·5 min read

Easing Pain, Safely: Antidepressant’s Promise for Neuropathic Pain Relief

Neuropathic pain, impacting an estimated 10% of the global population, could be tackled more safely and effectively with the atypical antidepressant tianeptine. Researchers found that tianeptine offers rapid, long-lasting relief from pain with a lower risk of addiction.

Featured Neuroscience Pain Psychology

·July 12, 2023·7 min read

Conceptual Linking: How Pain Avoidance Can Spread to Safe Activities

Avoiding activities associated with past pain can cause individuals to shun related tasks that might be painless. This avoidance may generalize to safe activities, leading to needless abstention from valued activities.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Pain

·July 7, 2023·5 min read

Arthritis-Related Joint Pain Varies Dramatically Across U.S. States

A new study highlights substantial state-by-state differences in arthritis-related joint pain across the US, from a low of 6.9% in Minnesota to a high of 23.1% in West Virginia. States in the South, the lower Mississippi Valley, and southern Appalachia show a particularly high prevalence of joint pain.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Pain

·May 24, 2023·4 min read

Active Lifestyles Boost Pain Tolerance

Physically active individuals have a higher pain tolerance than sedentary ones, according to a new study. Participants who were consistently active or increased their activity over time displayed a higher overall level of pain tolerance.

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·May 22, 2023·6 min read

Brain Activity Reveals Chronic Pain Signatures

Researchers successfully recorded data directly from the brains of individuals suffering from chronic pain caused by stroke or amputation. This milestone, accomplished using machine learning tools, identified specific brain regions and biomarkers associated with chronic pain. The findings mark a significant stride towards devising novel methods for monitoring and treating chronic pain.

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Featured Neurology Neuroscience Pain

·May 17, 2023·7 min read

Feeling the Burn? Channel That Generates Pain Sensation Also Blocks It

Researchers discovered a novel pain-suppression pathway in fruit flies, regulated by just two neurons named 'Epione' or 'Epi'. Remarkably, the molecule that controls this process in adults has an inverse role in larvae. This breakthrough understanding of pain suppression, or 'nociception', may have wider implications for human pain management.

Featured Neuroscience Pain

·May 4, 2023·6 min read

Underlying Mechanism of Neuropathic Pain Revealed

The enzyme Tiam1 in dorsal horn excitatory neurons of the spinal cord is responsible for initiating and maintaining neuropathic pain. Targeting spinal Tiam1 with anti-sense oligonucleotides injected into the cerebrospinal fluid effectively alleviates pain hypersensitivity.

Featured Neuroscience Pain

·May 3, 2023·4 min read

Music Can Be an Alternative to Opioid-Based Medication for Chronic Pain

Music has been suggested as a complementary alternative to chronic pain medication. A new study examines the experience of a woman with chronic pain who used music for pain management. The study delves into the contextual aspects of music listening, as well as the physiological and cognitive benefits of music listening. The study suggests that music-induced analgesia involves complex cognitive and emotional mechanisms, which may modulate the descending pain modulatory pathway.

Featured Neurology Pain

·April 22, 2023·5 min read

Alcohol Fuels Pain: Study Reveals Link Between Drinking and Chronic Pain

Chronic alcohol consumption can increase sensitivity to pain through two molecular mechanisms. Researchers also identified potential new drug targets for treating alcohol-related chronic pain. Over half of people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) suffer from persistent pain, including alcoholic neuropathy. The study found that alcohol withdrawal could result in neuropathy that was not reversed by re-exposure to alcohol.