Description:

The Department of Physiology welcomes:

Volker Neugebauer, MD, PhD
Chair and Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience
Director, Center of Excellence for Translational Neuroscience and Therapeutics
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

The amygdala has emerged as an important player in emotional-affective aspects of pain and pain modulation. Neurobiological mechanisms of pain-related changes in the amygdala can be determined at the synaptic and cellular levels using electrophysiological techniques. A particular focus is on the imbalance of excitatory drive and impaired cortical inhibition of amygdala output. Examples of behavioral assays for the analysis of sensory, affective and cognitive aspects of pain in preclinical models will be presented. Experimental strategies that link neural activity and behavior and establish causality include pharmacologic and optogenetic interventions. The concept of chronic pain as the abnormal persistence of an aversive state caused by impaired corticolimbic interactions will be discussed.