Anatomical and physiological studies conducted in the 1960s identified the periaqueductal
gray (PAG) and its descending projections to the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) and …

Current neurobiological theory of drug use is based on the observation that all addictive
drugs induce changes in activity of dopaminergic circuitry, interfering with reward …

Increased pain sensitivity after opioid administration (opioid-induced hyperalgesia) and/or
repeated painful stimuli is an individually varying and clinically important phenomenon. The …

Endogenous pain modulation may provide facilitation or inhibition of nociceptive input by
three main mechanisms. Firstly, modification of synaptic strength in the spinal dorsal horn …

Interrupting a continuous noxious heat by a greater noxious heat causes rapid and
disproportionate pain reduction when the original noxious heat returns. This reduction in …

Studies in both rodents and humans have shown that acute inflammatory pain experienced
during the perinatal period produces long-term decreases in pain sensitivity …

Endogenous pain control is, in part, mediated by descending inhibition of spinal nociception
via spinal release of noradrenaline. Antinociception by activation of descending …

Epidural motor cortex stimulation (MCS) has been used for treating patients with neuropathic
pain resistant to other therapeutic approaches. Experimental evidence suggests that the …

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is one of eight herpes viruses known to infect humans. Primary
infection causes varicella (chickenpox), after which virus becomes latent. Years later, VZV …

Animals eat rather than react to moderate pain. Here, we examined the behavioral, hedonic,
and neural requirements for ingestion analgesia in ad libitum fed rats. Noxious heat-evoked …