Chronic pain is a major public health issue and can cause complex and distressing problems for society and individuals. The Global Burden of Disease Study confirms that chronic pain is one of the leading causes of disability and disease burden globally. For example, chronic pain often leads to comorbid anxiety and depression which adversely affects the treatment outcomes of chronic pain and vice versa. However, mechanisms underlying the comorbidity of chronic pain and anxiety and depression are not well-understood. Neuroplasticity has been proposed to be a key cellular basis for pain hypersensitivity and aversive emotion. Such disease-induced neuroplasticity can happen in both the peripheral and central nervous system and is paramount to alterations in structure and function from the synaptic to circuit level. Of importance, a large number of new approaches spanning macro, mesoscopic and micro multi-scale levels has emerged recently and allow us to dissect complex interaction factors between chronic pain and comorbid anxiety and depression.
The goal of the Research Topic is to explore neuroplastic mechanisms underlying reciprocal regulation between chronic pain and anxiety and depression, and also to provide a forum for investigators to share innovative thoughts for chronic pain-related anxiety and depression. This may help to pave a new way for development of multi-dimensional intervention strategies for the treatment of comorbidity of chronic pain and anxiety and depression.
The Original Research involving in vitro/in vivo/ex-vivo, Review and Methods relevant to the interaction between chronic pain and comorbid anxiety and depression will be of interest. We also welcome articles with innovative techniques for helping us to study the neural circuit and synaptic plasticity, the crosstalk between neurons and glia, and neuroinflammatory changes of comorbid anxiety and depression in chronic pain in animal models. The following topics, but not limited to, will be considered:
- Synaptic and circuit plasticity underlying chronic pain and comorbid anxiety and depression
- In vitro/in vivo/ex-vivo innovative techniques for helping to study the neural circuit and synaptic plasticity
- Crosstalk mechanisms between neurons and glia in neuroplasticity
- Neuroinflammatory changes in the comorbidity of chronic pain and anxiety and depression
- Perspective and review articles focusing on the interaction between chronic pain and anxiety and depression
Chronic pain is a major public health issue and can cause complex and distressing problems for society and individuals. The Global Burden of Disease Study confirms that chronic pain is one of the leading causes of disability and disease burden globally. For example, chronic pain often leads to comorbid anxiety and depression which adversely affects the treatment outcomes of chronic pain and vice versa. However, mechanisms underlying the comorbidity of chronic pain and anxiety and depression are not well-understood. Neuroplasticity has been proposed to be a key cellular basis for pain hypersensitivity and aversive emotion. Such disease-induced neuroplasticity can happen in both the peripheral and central nervous system and is paramount to alterations in structure and function from the synaptic to circuit level. Of importance, a large number of new approaches spanning macro, mesoscopic and micro multi-scale levels has emerged recently and allow us to dissect complex interaction factors between chronic pain and comorbid anxiety and depression.
The goal of the Research Topic is to explore neuroplastic mechanisms underlying reciprocal regulation between chronic pain and anxiety and depression, and also to provide a forum for investigators to share innovative thoughts for chronic pain-related anxiety and depression. This may help to pave a new way for development of multi-dimensional intervention strategies for the treatment of comorbidity of chronic pain and anxiety and depression.
The Original Research involving in vitro/in vivo/ex-vivo, Review and Methods relevant to the interaction between chronic pain and comorbid anxiety and depression will be of interest. We also welcome articles with innovative techniques for helping us to study the neural circuit and synaptic plasticity, the crosstalk between neurons and glia, and neuroinflammatory changes of comorbid anxiety and depression in chronic pain in animal models. The following topics, but not limited to, will be considered:
- Synaptic and circuit plasticity underlying chronic pain and comorbid anxiety and depression
- In vitro/in vivo/ex-vivo innovative techniques for helping to study the neural circuit and synaptic plasticity
- Crosstalk mechanisms between neurons and glia in neuroplasticity
- Neuroinflammatory changes in the comorbidity of chronic pain and anxiety and depression
- Perspective and review articles focusing on the interaction between chronic pain and anxiety and depression
