The Human Pain System: Experimental and Clinical Perspectives

Pain is a subject of significant scientific and clinical interest. This has resulted both from realistic rodent models, and the publication of imaging, psychological and pharmacological studies in humans. Investigators studying rodents refer to anatomical and physiological studies in non-human primates to make their results relevant to humans. Psychophysical and pharmacological studies in humans are interpreted in terms of anatomical and physiological studies in animals; primarily evidence from rodents and cats. There are significant differences in pain mechanisms between these species and primates. Over 20 years of imaging studies have demonstrated the activation of human cortical and subcortical structures in response to painful stimuli. Interpretation of these results relies upon an understanding of the anatomy and physiology of these structures in primates. Jones, Lenz, Casey and Willis review the anatomy and physiology of nociception in monkeys and humans, and provide a firm basis for interpreting studies in humans.

Edward G. Jones is the director of the Center for Neuroscience and distinguished professor of psychiatry at UC Davis in California. He is a Past President of the Society for Neuroscience and a member of the National Academy of Sciences and Chair of the Committee representing the US on the International Brain Research Organisation. He has been the recipient of numerous prestigious prizes. Professor Jones is an authority on brain anatomy and recognized as a leading researcher on the fundamental central nervous mechanisms underlying perception and cognition. He is also a distinguished historian of neuroscience.

Fred A. Lenz is A. Earl Walker Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, where he maintains a practice in epilepsy and functional neurosurgery. He has served on numerous study sections of the NIH and NAS, and on seven editorial boards. He has won the Grass Foundation Career Research Award of the Society of Neurological Surgeons.

William D. Willis is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch. He has been President of the American Pain Society and of the Society for Neuroscience, Chief Editor of the Journal of Neurophysiology and the Journal of Neuroscience. He has received the Kerr Memorial Award from the APS, the Bristol Myers Squibb Award, the Purdue Prize for Pain Research and the J. E. Purkinjie Honorary Medal for Merit in the Biological Sciences. He has been named one of the world's most highly cited authors (top 0.5%) by the Institute of Scientific Information.

Kenneth L. Casey is Professor Emeritus of Neurology and Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the University of Michigan. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, an elected member of the American Neurological Association, a Lifetime Honorary and Founding Member of the International Association for the Study of Pain, and a Founding Member and Past President of the American Pain Society. Dr Casey's awards and lectureships include the F. W. L. Kerr Lectureship and Award from the APS. Dr Casey was among the first to investigate human pain with functional brain imaging.