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In order to prevent such changes from occurring, scientists need to understand the basis for their development. It is known that the normal formation of neural connections in the developing brain requires a fine balance of electrical activity between cells. If this balance is disrupted, connections are lost and abnormal ones are formed. Fitzgerald has demonstrated the importance of neural activity triggered by the neurotransmitter glutamate acting on NMDA receptors, in the formation of sensory connections in the newborn spinal cord.

Treating the newborn spinal cord with very low doses of NMDA receptor blocker during a critical period of early life mimics the effects of early skin injury and leaves the sensory neurons more 'receptive' to skin stimulation when adult. The NMDA experiments suggest, as has been shown in other areas of sensory nervous system development, that the pattern and level of background sensory neural activity is critical for normal skin sensory development. Early skin injury may cause abnormal or unbalanced neural activity at a critical stage of development, leading to an altered set of central sensory connections. Clearly, more work is needed in this area but this data demonstrates the potential clinical importance of neonatal plasticity, learning, and memory in pain development.

Underlying such memories of painful events are specific cellular mechanisms, notes Jrgen Sandkhler, MD, PhD, of the Vienna University Brain Research Institute in Austria.

The central nervous system has an unimaginable complexity and this is a prerequisite for the extremely high performance of the brain, says Sandkhler. Despite the complexity of chronic pain, however, it now appe
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Contact: Dawn McCoy
dawn@sfn.org
202-462-6688
Society for Neuroscience
10-Nov-2003