The sensation of pain is a complex function involving sensory, emotional and cognitive processes. It is of enormous value to an organism, allowing for the identification and the timely response to a potential damaging stimulus. It is initiating protective behavioral responses and triggering memory mechanisms enabling so the learning of new environmental dangers. Under certain situations (tissue damage, disease) pain might persist beyond the initial injury (chronic pain). This has serious consequences on the quality of life, causing suffering, anxiety and depression.
We are interested in uncovering the mechanisms involved in pain sensation in the brain and specifically investigate the role of the insular cortex, a brain region that is activated during pain and causes pain sensation when stimulated. Our working hypothesis is that the insula controls pain through its projections to the Descending Pain Modulatory System. In addition to pain the insular cortex is also involved in diverse functions, including emotion. Our studies of the role of the insular cortex in pain have the potential to uncover the neurobiological links between pathological pain and its comorbidities.
Damage to the peripheral sensory system often leads to the chronicity of pain. In this context we are also interested in how different components of the peripheral and central sensory system are involved in the development of neuropathic pain. Chronic pain development is associated with altered functionality in the nervous system. Such plastic alterations might influence both the sensory and the affective component of pain sensation. We are using behavioral, electropysiological and imaging techniques to investigate the manifestation of neuropathic pain in cortical circuits.
