Chronic pain is a widespread challenge that many people live with for years.
Treatment often relies on strong painkillers, but these drugs can cause serious side effects.
As a result, researchers are searching for solutions that can relieve pain without creating new problems.
Pain in the brain
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania focused in their study, published in Nature, on how pain arises and is registered in the brain.
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By examining specific nerve cells in the brain, they identified circuits that play a central role in the experience of pain.
According to the researchers, these areas differ from the parts of the brain that are linked to reward and addiction.
New technology in the experiment
A key part of the work involved developing an experimental mouse model in which artificial intelligence was used to analyze behavior.
This method made it possible to assess pain more accurately than previous approaches.
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Based on these data, the researchers designed a gene therapy that targets the identified pain circuits.
The researchers believe that the treatment can reduce pain without affecting other functions of the brain.
What does it mean?
The gene therapy could therefore act as a direct means of regulating pain in the central nervous system.
Gregory Corder, who is among the researchers behind the study, describes the results, according to Nature, as a first step toward a new type of pain treatment.
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At the same time, it is emphasized that this is preclinical research.
The transition to treatment in humans requires further studies and involves uncertainty, particularly because gene therapy remains a sensitive field.
Sources: Medical Xpress, and Nature.
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