Chronic disappointment can train the brain to expect pain instead of reward. Restoring hope means reawakening dopamine ...

Acute or short-lived pain, despite its bad reputation, is usually a lifesaver. It acts as a transient negative sensory ...

The world has changed since 1664, when French philosopher and scientist Rene Descartes first claimed the brain was responsible for the sensation of pain. However, a key question remains: How exactly ...

The newfound ensemble of neurons could lead to therapies to treat persistent pain, which affects roughly one of five people ...

In the second world war, the physician Henry Beecher observed that some of his soldier patients, despite being injured on the battlefield, required no strong painkillers to manage their pain. In some ...

When pain strikes from multiple sources-such as a paper cut followed by contact with hot water-the experience can feel disproportionately intense. But is this agony merely additive, or does the brain ...

UCSF neurologist Dr. Shirvalkar studies nerve-to-brain connections to find new ways to treat chronic back pain.

Pain is not simply “in your head”—and reducing it to a brain-first narrative risks both stigma and substandard care. Real pain often originates in the body, whether from a fractured bone, spinal ...

Tylenol and NSAIDs both help with pain perception and fever, but the medications do have one key difference. Distinctly, Tylenol doesn’t have anti-inflammatory properties, meaning it won’t help with ...

A new study suggests that mindfulness meditation influences how the brain perceives pain in ways that are distinct from the placebo effect. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an ...

One day a few years ago, as I stared at all the sophisticated machinery in my operating room — high-tech microscopes, image navigation tools and exquisitely designed instruments — I was struck by the ...

Salk neuroscientists discover brain area called gracile nucleus is central to the development of mechanical allodynia, a ...