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Open Access 01-04-2020 | Neurology and Preclinical Neurological Studies - Review Article

What goes up must come down: insights from studies on descending controls acting on spinal pain processing

Authors: Stevie Lockwood, Anthony H. Dickenson

Published in: Journal of Neural Transmission | Issue 4/2020

Abstract

Descending controls link higher processing of noxious signals to modulation of spinal cord responses to their noxious inputs. It has become possible to study one key inhibitory system in animals and humans using one painful stimulus to attenuate another distant response and so eliciting diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNIC) or the human counterpart, conditioned pain modulation (CPM). Here, we discuss the neuronal pathways in both species, their pharmacology and examine changes in descending controls with a focus on osteoarthritis. We will also discuss the opposing descending facilitatory system. Strong parallels between DNIC and CPM emphasize the possibility of forward and reverse translation.

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Title: What goes up must come down: insights from studies on descending controls acting on spinal pain processing
Authors: Stevie Lockwood
Anthony H. Dickenson
Publication date: 01-04-2020
Publisher: Springer Vienna
Published in: Journal of Neural Transmission / Issue 4/2020
Print ISSN: 0300-9564
Electronic ISSN: 1435-1463
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-019-02077-x

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