Chronic Pain Press Releases

Hundreds of NIH-funded studies are being presented at the 2012 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting. Here, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has highlighted a selection of studies and events led by our grantees.

Researchers have taken the closest-yet look at the structures of opioid receptors. Drugs that target these receptors are widely prescribed for treating acute and chronic pain, but their long-term use carries a risk of addiction and tolerance. The new findings might aid development of safer painkillers and addiction-fighting medications.

NIH announced the members of the new Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee chaired by NINDS Director Story Landis, Ph.D. The IPRCC includes researchers, members of nonprofit public advocacy organizations, and representatives from 7 federal agencies that deal with pain research and patient care.

Chronic inflammatory pain is among the most common health problems and the most difficult to treat. New research points to resolvins – small molecules derived from the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish – as a possible alternative treatment for inflammatory pain when other drugs prove inadequate. Resolvins help put an end to inflammation and affect how pain-sensing nerve cells respond to inflammation.

The National Institutes of Health Blueprint for Neuroscience Research is launching a $30 million project that will use cutting-edge brain imaging technologies to map the circuitry of the healthy adult human brain. By systematically collecting brain imaging data from hundreds of subjects, the Human Connectome Project (HCP) will yield insight into how brain connections underlie brain function, and will open up new lines of inquiry for human neuroscience.

If you ever had a set of Micronauts – toy robots with removable body parts – you probably had fun swapping their heads, imagining how it would affect their behavior. Scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health have been performing similar experiments on ion channels – pores in our nerve cells – to sort out the channels' key functional parts.

A combination of two drugs can selectively block pain-sensing neurons in rats without impairing movement or other sensations such as touch, according to a new study by National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported investigators. The finding suggests an improved way to treat pain from childbirth and surgical procedures. It may also lead to new treatments to help the millions of Americans who suffer from chronic pain.

A new NIH-funded study shows that a specific gene variant in humans affects both sensitivity to short-term (acute) pain in healthy volunteers and the risk of developing chronic pain after one kind of back surgery. Blocking increased activity of this gene after nerve injury or inflammation in animals prevented development of chronic pain.

A new study shows that a reduction in small-diameter nerve fibers is evident in the devastating chronic pain syndrome known as complex regional pain syndrome-type I (CRPS-I), which was formerly known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy. This finding of nerve damage could provide a biomarker, or a specific physical trait, that clinicians could use in the future to help diagnose and measure the natural history of CRPS.

While the theory that “mind over matter” exists is an ancient belief, the scientific studies to support this idea have remained elusive. A new study provides brain imaging evidence that positive thinking interacts with and shapes the sensory experience of pain. This study suggests that decreasing the expectation of pain can reduce both the pain-related brain activity and perception of pain intensity. This knowledge may lead to new and effective ways to manage chronic pain.

Using a weakened herpes virus to deliver a neurotransmitter-related gene to sensory neurons alleviates pain for up to 6 weeks in rats with chronic pain caused by nerve damage, a new study shows. The findings may lead to the first effective treatment for people affected by this type of "neuropathic" pain.

A new study shows that opioid drugs taken orally could provide relief for some of the more than 2 million Americans suffering with chronic pain resulting from damage to the nervous system.
Fact Sheet

For centuries, doctors have tried to find effective ways to treat chronic pain, a devastating neurological disorder that affects almost 90 million Americans. A new study shows that two proteins in the brain trigger the neuronal changes that amplify and sustain this type of pain. The finding may lead to new ways of treating chronic pain.
Fact Sheet

Scientists funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) may soon be able to reduce sensitivity to stimuli that are associated with chronic neuropathic and inflammatory pain by disabling certain nerve cells that send pain signals to the brain.