Chronic pain is a major debilitating health care problem. Unfortunately, chronic pain is often poorly managed by existing treatments. Neuromodulation – the alteration of nerve activity by targeted delivery of a stimulus, such as a drug or electrical stimulation, to a specific neurological site – offers a chance to treat chronic pain without disabling side-effects. Current neuromodulation therapies targeting the brain or spinal cord are not typically based on mechanisms that generate pain and are often ineffective.

Our group has identified a small brain region, an area we term nBA3a/TZ, that is present in humans, non-human primates, and rodents, that we believe represents a gateway to the pain networks in the brain. This PhD studentship will address the precise role that nBA3a/TZ has in causing chronic pain. It will test the idea that when activity in nBA3a/TZ is transmitted to other pain related brain areas it causes pain signals to be amplified – a process likely to lead to chronic pain. This would mean that reducing activity in nBA3a/TZ would be expected to relieve pain.