Mi., 01. Mai
|Department of Physiology
The Network Dynamics of Chronic Pain
Come to learn more about chronic pain! Dr. Mario Acuña from University of Bern, and Dr. Robert Ganley from UZH will present their research on the neural dynamics of chronic pain in the brain and in the spinal cord.
Time & Location
01. Mai 2019, 17:00 – 19:00
Department of Physiology, Bühlpl. 5, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
About the event
Topic
The Network Dynamics of Chronic Pain
Talks
Neuronal Network Dynamics and Sensory Representation in the ACC
Dr. Mario Acuña, Postdoc at Nevian lab, University of Bern
Chronic pain affects to 20% of the European population; therefore, understanding the processes underlying such pain chronification is imperative. Accumulating evidence indicates that abnormal neuronal plasticity and a resulting hyperactivity of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is the cause for the manifestation of the emotional distress that characterizes chronic pain conditions. However, how the functional organization of ACC neuronal microcircuits is affected in chronic pain is poorly understood. In this talk I will present the current advances we are making towards an understanding on how pain is represented in the mouse ACC using in-vivo 2-photon calcium imaging.
Cells and circuitry of stress-induced analgesia. Targets for chronic pain treatments?
Dr. Robert Ganley, Postdoc at Zeilhofer lab, University of Zurich
We have identified a population of spinal cord inhibitory interneurons that are critical components of swim stress-induced analgesia, which are identified by the expression of the transcription factor Gbx1. These Gbx1-expressing interneurons are required for stress-induced analgesia but are not required for pain perception under normal conditions, and their activation is sufficient to produce a robust analgesia in all tested pain modalities. Spinal Gbx1-expressing neurons and the circuits that activate them represent potential targets for the treatment of chronic pain.