Dear CNAP member,
Following the round table discussion in October with presentations and debates on “Cortical reorganization and pain”, we are delighted to invite you to the next meeting of the classical pain concepts, which will take place on December 7, 2017 at 12:30 - 15:30, FRB 7D/2.106.
The goal of the round table discussions is to gather interested individuals and consolidate central knowledge, theory, phenomena and explore key emerging developments within pain principles. To achieve this goal, classical pain concepts will be discussed four times annually. Following the round table discussion there will be a social gathering, and this time we will enjoy a little bit of Christmas.
In this round table, the focus will be on the theme “Descending control of pain”. The descending control of the pain system seems to be important for a healthy pain system. Imbalance between facilitation and inhibition has been proposed to contribute in pain chronification and spread of hyperalgesia. The phenomenon where a localised tonic nociceptive stimulus modulates acute nociception from extrasegmental sites was originally termed “diffuse noxious inhibitory control (DNIC)” (Le Bars et al. 1979) based on basic animal studies and subsequently the human correlate was proposed (Willer and Le Bars, 1984). The concept of on/off cells in the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) important for the descending control was presented by Fields et al. (1983) and discussed in a review by Heinricher et al. (2009). Conditioned pain modulation (CPM) is the psychophysical protocol exploring DNIC-like effects in humans and is the difference in the response to a painful test-stimulus applied before and during painful conditioning stimulation (Yarnitsky et al. 2010).
Classical papers on the descending control of pain:
- Le Bars et al. 1979: Diffuse Noxious Inhibitory Controls (DNIC). I. Effects on Dorsal Horn Convergent Neurones in the Rat
- Willer et al. 1984: Psychophysical and Electrophysiological Approaches to the Pain-Relieving Effects of Heterotopic Nociceptive Stimuli
- Fields et al. 1983: The Activity of Neurons in the Rostral Medulla of the Rat During Withdrawal from Noxious Heat
- Heinricher et al. 2009: Descending control of nociception: Specificity, recruitment and plasticity
- Yarnitsky et al. 2010: Conditioned pain modulation_the diffuse noxious inhibitory control-like effect_its relevance for acute and chronic pai
You are expected to have read the “classics”, the selected paper and the article suggested by Kristian Kjær Petersen (cf. programme) and prepared for a discussion of them.
Programme:
12.30 Presentation of “the classics”:
- Le Bars et al. 1979: Diffuse Noxious Inhibitory Controls (DNIC). I. Effects on Dorsal Horn Convergent Neurones in the Rat by Daniele
- Willer et al. 1984: Psychophysical and Electrophysiological Approaches to the Pain-Relieving Effects of Heterotopic Nociceptive Stimuli by Megan
- Heinricher et al. 2009: Descending control of nociception: Specificity, recruitment and plasticity by Morten
13.15 Coffee break
13.30 Pitch of all incoming papers (1 min for each paper/participant)
Why choosing this particular paper?
13.45 Discussion
14.15 Presentation of:
- Presentation of Torta et al. 2015: The effect of heterotopic noxious conditioning stimulation on Aδ-, C- and Aβ-fibre brain responses in humans by Aida
- Presentation of Yarnitsky 2015: Role of endogenous pain modulation in chronic pain mechanisms and treatment by Kristian Kjær Petersen
15.00 Pre-Christmas Party
15.30 Thank you for today!
We look forward to the discussions, and hope that together we all achieve a deeper understanding of the classical pain concepts.
Kind regards on behalf of the CNAP round table executive committee,
Laura, Shellie, Parisa, Carsten, and Thomas
NB! Participation is mandatory for all CNAP members if not agreed otherwise with your RIG Head.
Incoming papers
- Bingel et al. 2006: Mechanisms of placebo analgesia. rACC recruitment of a subcortical antinociceptive network
- Chen 2011: Stress enhances muscle nociceptor activity in the rat
- Eippert F et al 2009: Activation of the Opiodergic Descending Pain Control System Underlies Placebo Analgesia
- Knauf 2014: Exercise-Induced Modulation of Pain in Adults with and without Painful Diabetic Neuropathy
- Moont et al. 2012: Temporal changes in cortical activation during distraction from pain: A comparative LORETA study with conditioned pain modulation
- Nahman-Averbuch et al 2013: Waning of “Conditioned Pain Modulation”: A Novel Expression of Subtle Pronociception in Migraine
- Reidler et al. 2012: Effects of Motor Cortex Modulation and Descending Inhibitory Systems on Pain Thresholds in Healthy Subjects
- Smith et al 2017: Conditioned pain modulation is affected by occlusion cuff conditioning stimulus intensity, but not duration
- Taylor et al. 2013: Naloxone-Reversible Modulation of Pain Circuitry by Left Prefrontal rTMS
- Vuilleumier et al. 2017: Psychophysical and Electrophysiological Evidence for Enhanced Pain Facilitation and Unaltered Pain nhibition in Acute Low Back Pain Patients
- Xia et al. 2016: Exploration of conditioned pain modulation effect on long-term potentiation-like pain ampliļ¬cation in humans
- Xiong et al. 2017: Enhancing excitatory activity of somatosensory cortex alleviates neuropathic pain through regulating homeostatic plasticity
- You-Qing et al. 2014: Optogenetic activation of brainstem serotonergic neurons induces persistent pain sensitization
- Yu 2014: Disrupted functional connectivity of the periaqueductal gray in chronic low back pain
- Zhang 2011: Epigenetic suppression of GAD65 expression mediates persistent pain
- Zhong-Qui et al. 2014: Descending Control of Itch Transmission by the Serotonergic System via 5-HT1A-Facilitated GRP-GRPR Signaling