Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Pain is a complex consciousness that emerges from the brain, and is commonly a result of nociception; the physiological process initiated by activation of specialised high-threshold peripheral sensory neurons. When pain is persistent, its affective aspects can dominate and cause considerable suffering. This chronic pain state is not an inevitable consequence of physical injury or disease. Instead, susceptibility to chronic pain results from complex interactions between multiple genes and the environment that influence nociception and regulate the consciousness of pain. The biological bases for chronic pain can now be defined and measured by brain neuroimaging at a systems level, where penetrance of genetic variation should be higher when compared to syndromal phenotypes. To date, very few neuroimaging studies have attempted to connect brain activity associated with pain to genes. We review these together with other pertinent studies here, and suggest how neuroimaging endophenotypes might prove useful for the development of treatments for chronic pain.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.conb.2012.11.007

Type

Journal article

Journal

Curr Opin Neurobiol

Publication Date

02/2013

Volume

23

Pages

127 - 132

Keywords

Animals, Brain, Chronic Pain, Humans, Nociception