Colloquium Series 2017-2018

Steve Prescott
University of Toronto

Somatosensory Coding Gone Wrong: The Origins of Neuropathic Pain

Pain is the normal sensory response to noxious stimulation. But pathological changes in neural coding can result in innocuous somatosensory input being misperceived as painful. This so-called neuropathic pain is notoriously difficult to treat and is, therefore, a significant clinical problem. In my presentation, I will discuss our ongoing work to uncover the cellular and circuit properties that control how somatosensory information is normally processed, and how pathological changes in those properties contribute to neuropathic pain. The identification that certain pathological states are degenerate (i.e. can be produced via distinct molecular changes) may help explain why neuropathic pain is so difficult to treat.