Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain syndrome that affects at least 2% of the adult population. It is characterised by widespread pain, fatigue, sleep alterations and distress, and emerging evidence suggests a central nervous system (CNS) malfunction that increases pain transmission and perception. FM is often associated with other diseases that act as confounding and aggravating factors, such ...

The ground reaction curve (GRC) is a vital component of the convergence-confinement method, which possesses many applications in the underground space designs. It defines a relation between the tunnel wall deformations and the ground pressure acting on the tunnel walls. Generally, GRC includes descending and ascending branches. According to many researchers, the descending branch trend for the ...

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a nonpharmacologic treatment for pain relief. TENS has been used to treat a variety of painful conditions. This review updates the basic and clinical science regarding the use of TENS that has been published in the past 3 years (ie, 2005-2008). Basic science studies using animal models of inflammation show changes in the peripheral nervous s...

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a nonpharmacological intervention that activates a complex neuronal network to reduce pain by activating descending inhibitory systems in the central nervous system to reduce hyperalgesia. The evidence for TENS efficacy is conflicting and requires not only description but also critique. Population-specific systemic reviews and meta-analyses ...

Pontospinal noradrenergic neurons are thought to form part of a descending endogenous analgesic system that exerts inhibitory influences on spinal nociception. Using optogenetic targeting, we tested the hypothesis that excitation of the locus ceruleus (LC) is antinociceptive. We transduced rat LC neurons by direct injection of a lentiviral vector expressing channelrhodopsin2 under the control o...

The enteric nervous system coordinates various gut functions. Functional studies suggested that neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, one of the most prominent among them being 5-HT, may act through a specific modulation of ascending and descending enteric pathways. However, it is still mostly unknown how particular components of enteric reflex circuits are controlled. This report describes ex...

Recently, we found that gentle mechanical skin stimulation inhibits the micturition reflex in anesthetized rats. However, the central mechanisms underlying this inhibition have not been determined. This study aimed to clarify the central neural mechanisms underlying this inhibitory effect. In urethane-anesthetized rats, cutaneous stimuli were applied for 1 min to the skin of the perineum using ...

BACKGROUND Pain is highly prevalent in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), but little is known about the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. The susceptibility to pain is known to depend on ascending and descending pathways. Because parts of the descending pain inhibitory system involve dopaminergic pathways, dysregulations in dopaminergic transmission might contribute to altered pain...

This is a review of research aimed at elucidating how various opiate analgesia substrates in rat brain stem interact with one another to bring about opiate analgesia. The three substrates studied are the midbrain periaqueductal grey (PAG), the bulbar nucleus raphe magnus (RM), and the bulbar nucleus reticularis paragigantocellularis (PGC). The methods used in the reviewed studies are unique in ...