ENDOGENOUS PAIN RELIEF IN HEALTHY AND OSTEOARTHRITIC PATIENTS
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$509,926.00
Summary
Pain has a detrimental impact on ones quality of life and a significant financial impact on the community. Given this, there is a substantial effort aimed at developing pain relieving compounds. One way in which our own brain can provide complete pain relief is via a mechanism called diffuse noxious inhibitory control. We currently do not know how this mechanism works and the aim of this investigation is to explore this mechanism in healthy and osteoarthritis patients use human brain imaging.
THE NEUROBIOLOGICAL BASIS OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN SUSCEPTIBILITY TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF STRESS
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$583,875.00
Summary
Stress plays a major role in the development and progression of many different mental health disorders. However, as we all know, the effects of stress on one person can be very different from its effects upon another. This is at least partly explained by differences in individual coping styles. When faced with a stressful situation without a ready solution, people tend to divide into two broad camps: those with an innate tendency to adopt passive coping strategies, such as avoidance, and those t ....Stress plays a major role in the development and progression of many different mental health disorders. However, as we all know, the effects of stress on one person can be very different from its effects upon another. This is at least partly explained by differences in individual coping styles. When faced with a stressful situation without a ready solution, people tend to divide into two broad camps: those with an innate tendency to adopt passive coping strategies, such as avoidance, and those that tend towards active coping strategies, such as attempting to take control of the situation. Previous studies have provided findings that suggest that passive coping is more common amongst sufferers of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and chronic pain syndrome than is active coping. But is this cause, or effect? And what are the intervening brain mechanisms? We attempt to address such questions in the present project using an animal model in which social conflict has been shown to trigger depression-like symptoms. In particular we wish to: (i) determine whether the patterns of brain activity triggered by social conflict are different for active vs. passive copers; (ii) determine whether the depression-like consequences of social conflict are more severe in passive than in active copers; (iii) determine whether differences in coping style and vulnerability to social conflict stress are due to the actions of a particular neurotransmitter, dopamine, in the prefrontal cortex of the brain; (iv) determine whether the actions of antidepressants might be attributable changes in prefrontal cortex dopamine function which in turn promote active coping in preference to passive coping. These studies will provide exciting new information about the neurobiological basis of individual differences in vulnerability to the harmful effects of stress, and thus will offer the hope of developing new ways of preventing devastating illnesses such as depression.Read moreRead less
The fundamental problem with pain is that it cannot be seen. We can see injury, but pain and injury are quite often not related. Brain imaging has demonstrated consistent patterns of activity when we feel pain, and long-term changes that happen in chronic, i.e. persistent, painful disorders. This project will use the best technology available to investigate the basics of how our brains perceive pain, and to shed light on some of the brain mechanisms that underpin chronic pain.
Pain has a detrimental impact on ones quality of life and a significant financial impact on the community. It has recently been revealed that chronic pain is associated with altered brain anatomy and function. Using human brain imaging, we aim to determine the underlying reason for these changes by following individuals during the development of pain. Defining the mechanism underlying pain will aid in the development of better treatment regimens.
Investigating Cortical Plasticity And Connectivity In People With Chronic Low Back Pain And Controls Using Combined TMS_EEG
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$318,768.00
Summary
Little is known about the factors that predispose the development of chronic low back pain or what changes underpin effective treatment. Brain changes, thought to reflect adaptive processes are associated with chronic pain, but the extent of their contribution to CLBP is unknown. By measuring the adaptability of brain changes in people with CLBP I will determine if they differ from healthy controls in a way that predisposes them to develop chronic pain and is related to treatment response.
Identifying The Neural Signature Of Persistent Pain
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$547,094.00
Summary
Chronic pain affects over 20% of Australians. Despite its high prevalence, it is relativly resistant to current treatment regimes and part of the reason behind our inadequate ability to provide satisfactory pain relief is due to our limited understanding of the pathophysiology that underlies this condition. This proposal will develop a novel understanding of the central neuroplastic changes associated with chronic pain and the role that these changes play in the maintenance of these conditions.
Supraspinal Neural Adaptations In The Transition From Acute Injury To Chronic Pain And Disability
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$429,360.00
Summary
Although there have been significant clinical advances in the management of injury and the control of acute pain following tauma, many people still develop disabling conditions of chronic pain. Chronic pain and disability occurs even though the acute signs of trauma have subsided and injuries have healed. People with chronic pain conditions not only experience ongoing changes in sensation (ie., most commonly lowered thresholds for pain, touch evoked pain and spontaneous pain), they also endure a ....Although there have been significant clinical advances in the management of injury and the control of acute pain following tauma, many people still develop disabling conditions of chronic pain. Chronic pain and disability occurs even though the acute signs of trauma have subsided and injuries have healed. People with chronic pain conditions not only experience ongoing changes in sensation (ie., most commonly lowered thresholds for pain, touch evoked pain and spontaneous pain), they also endure a number of disabilities for example disrupted family and social relations, disturbed sleep, loss of appetite, weight changes, loss of sex drive, changes in menstrual cycle, the inability to cope with stressors, and often moderate to severe anxiety and depression. The proposed research aims to (i) identify changes in brain circuits which are responsible for producing these patterns of pain and disability following injury and (ii) attempts to selectively reverse some of these disabilities by reversing the brain changes. The results of this study will offer for the first time a rational basis for improving the outcomes of injury and pain management in the acute phase of trauma, by identifying and reversing the critical changes which predict the advent of the state state of chronic pain and disability.Read moreRead less
The Role Of Innate Immune Memory In The Transition From Acute To Chronic Pain
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$331,440.00
Summary
Chronic pain costs Australians more than $34 billion annually and is the 3rd highest Australian disease burden. It has long been thought to be a disease of the wiring of the brain. This project aims to challenge this long held belief by examining the impact of the immune system in creating chronic pain. Such work promises to provide new and better ways to prevent chronic pain, which will improve & maintain good health for all Australians.
The Role Of BMP Signalling During Chronic Demyelination And Myelin Repair
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$67,381.00
Summary
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurodegenerative disease affecting young adults. It is a disease that kills myelin cells, which are important support cells for neurons and critical for neuronal function. This research investigates the role of a specific signaling pathway with respect to myelin cell production and repair with the ultimate aim of identifying regenerative therapeutics for MS.
Stimulus Induced Synaptic Plasticity In The Amygdala
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$428,777.00
Summary
Acute pain provides important warnings about dangers in our environment. However some clinical conditions produce chronic-persistent pain that outlasts the original injury and its useful role. This persistent pain is a debilitating condition that affects 20% of the Australian population and is characterized by painful sensory experience and a negative emotional state. The clinical management of persistent pain remains problematic due to the intolerable side effects associated with the escalating ....Acute pain provides important warnings about dangers in our environment. However some clinical conditions produce chronic-persistent pain that outlasts the original injury and its useful role. This persistent pain is a debilitating condition that affects 20% of the Australian population and is characterized by painful sensory experience and a negative emotional state. The clinical management of persistent pain remains problematic due to the intolerable side effects associated with the escalating doses required for adequate pain relief and the limited efficacy of current drug therapies in some clinically important pains states. The persistence of pain after the original injury has resolved suggest the development of adaptations that result in the ongoing pain. The changes in neurobiology underlying persistent pain are poorly defined. A better understanding of this neurobiology will result in better therapeutic approaches to persistent pain. The amygdala is a brain region that is important for pain processing, endogenous analgesia and emotion. A neuronal pathway that delivers information about pain to the amygdala has recently been shown to be critical for the development of persistent pain. Little is known about whether this critical neuronal pathway is modified by pain. This project will determine using electrical and chemical techniques how a brief or persistent painful stimulus changes the delivery of painful information to the neurons in the amygdala. The changes produced by a brief painful stimulus likely represent the initial changes in the development of a persistent pain state. This information may allow us to more fully understand the transition from acute to persistent pain and the changes defined may be sensitive to pharmacological modulation. Preventing or inhibiting these pain induced changes may provide better treatment for persistent pain or ideally prevent people undergoing the transition from acute to persistent pain.Read moreRead less