The neurobiology of pain and analgesia exhibits plasticity in different pain states. Animal models allow the study of the pathways, neuronal plasticity, and pharmacology that reflect the pains many patients have. Inherited pain disorders may also indicate the pain-related roles of gene products. Mixed pain states are more difficult to model and research in this area is ongoing. Pain remains a subjective experience, and the search for objective measures or biomarkers of pain has so far not yielded definitive results. However, rational, mechanistic explanations for pain states are emerging, and a number of potential treatment targets that have recently been revealed by animal models of clinical pain conditions are beginning to be translated to the patient. This article outlines some of the major recent developments in preclinical and clinical pain science that have the potential to shape the development of new treatments for pain.
Keywords: analgesia; genes; neurobiology; pain; plasticity.