A clearer picture of pain relief
Prof Paul Furlong
Aston University, Birmingham
2007 – 2010 PhD Studentship
Functional neuroimaging and the pharmacokinetics of pain.
Prof Furlong is Professor of Clinical Neuroimaging at the Neurosciences Research Unit, Aston University, Birmingham.
This study continues the work of the Aston research group to integrate the two non-invasive neuroimaging techniques of Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS).
A Dr Hadwen Trust-funded PhD student will use MEG and MRS with human volunteers to measure the influence of drugs that affect pain and pain perception. The combination of these two techniques should provide a very sensitive metric of functional change related to brain activity.
Such measures will lead to the development of human-based ‘models’ that link non-invasive measures of brain chemistry and physiology, and provide the possibility of human drug testing at sub-therapeutic dosage levels. This hypothesis-driven low-dosage research on humans, with increased safety margins and based on informed physiological models, will be an attractive alternative to costly hit-and-miss animal testing. A direct application of this work is the development and testing of medication for pain relief and mood disorders.
Recent years have heralded an explosion in pharmaceutical studies for neuropathic pain. Existing treatments are of limited effectiveness and produce relatively frequent side effects. Many thousands of rodents are utilised to investigate pain and to explore analgesics. Pain is induced in animals by injections of irritant chemicals, applying cold or heat, or damaging nerves. This research has identified many promising pharmacological targets, however reliable predictors of success in humans remain elusive.
In the Aston research, electrical stimulation techniques will be used to induce pain in volunteers and assess responders’ changing perception of pain, both over time and during the application of pain relief. Measures of autonomic nervous system function will be used to monitor stress and anxiety during these studies, alongside subjective measures of pain perception.
This study will help understanding of these mechanisms and may ultimately lead to improved treatment of pain for those who respond poorly to pain killers. Importantly, the work enables the study of the real-time dynamics of pain and pain modulation for both primary and affective components, in the human subject.