A new study published in the September 2015 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience might finally provide a new direction for research seeking to help patients suffering from neuropathic pain. Chronic pain results from disease or trauma to the nervous system. Damaged nerve fibers with heightened responses to normal stimuli send incorrect messages to pain centers in the brain. This phenomenon, called “peripheral and central sensitization” is one of the key mechanisms involved in the condition which touches people with diabetes, cancer, and those suffering from multiple sclerosis, among others. The study shows that reducing the hyper-excitability of the most consistently stimulated region of the brain in pain processing (the anterior cingular cortex, ACC) by blocking the channels that control transmission of pain to that region had analgesic effects. This research provides new perspectives on therapeutic strategies that could target those channels to help relive chronic pain. To READ MORE from Science Daily; The Journal of Neuroscience READ MORE.
Source: Science Daily & The Journal of Neuroscience