Dr. Sean Mackey, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator
The last decade has seen dramatic changes in the way we understand pain. Rather than viewing pain as simply a symptom of trauma, infection, inflammation, or surgery, we now see it as a discrete disease entity - one that fundamentally alters the entire nervous system. In a major recent advance, neuroimaging tools have allowed us to peer inside the human brain in ways once only dreamed about – unlocking mysteries of where pain is perceived and processed, how it affects the brain, and how it can act to change our thoughts and emotions. For the first time, we have the tools to effectively explore the impact of pain on the brain and can use this information to create the comprehensive interdisciplinary treatment needed to prevent or reverse these changes. Our ultimate goal is to lessen or stop our patient’s pain and restore and enhance their quality of life. More »

Intense, passionate feelings of love can provide amazingly effective pain relief, similar to painkillers or such illicit drugs as cocaine, according to a new Stanford University School of Medicine study.

Figure: Love-induced pain relief was associated with the activation of primitive brain structures that control rewarding experiences, such as the nucleus accumbens – shown here in red. Profoundly rewarding experiences such as love may naturally reduce pain, via the close neurological ties between reward-processing and pain-processing regions in the brain.

“When people are in this passionate, all-consuming phase of love, there are significant alterations in their mood that are impacting their experience of pain,” said Sean Mackey, MD, PhD, chief of the Division of Pain Management, associate professor of anesthesia and senior author of the study, published online Oct. 13 in PLoS ONE. “We’re beginning to tease apart some of these reward systems in the brain and how they influence pain. These are very deep, old systems in our brain that involve dopamine — a primary neurotransmitter that influences mood, reward and motivation.”

The full article is freely available at the PLoS ONE website.

Our Popular Press archive is available here.

(image rendered with MRIcroGL, by Chris Rorden)

Recent popular press coverage of our research, including the recent Discovery Channel Human Body series video, is available at our popular press archive.

Additional information for research participants is available here.

We are currently recruiting study subjects for numerous pain research studies.
More »

Information about our rccently published article on Low-Dose Naltrexone and Fibromyalgia can be found here. More »

If you would like to make a charitable donation to support our mission, please click here.