WHAT WE STILL DON’T KNOW

1 HOW WE DETECT A PINPRICK

Using molecular biology and various natural chemicals as ‘probes’, we’ve identified most of the nociceptors in the body that respond to painful events. However, we’re still missing the nociceptor that detects a painful hammer blow, knife cut or pinprick. Several research groups are on the hunt for this elusive nociceptor.

2 WHY PEOPLE DEVELOP CHRONIC PAIN

In chronic pain, the A- delta and C fibres often switch on permanently, causing non-stop agony. If we can work out why this happens and manage to prevent it, we’ll have gone a long way to helping millions of sufferers. Also, we still need to understand why, after the same injury, one person can develop chronic pain, but the other person does not.

3 WHERE THE ‘HURT’ IS IN PAIN

It’s thought that Oscar Wilde once said: “I don’t mind pain, so long as it doesn’t hurt”. Funny, yet spot on. We know that the perception of hurt emerges from a network of brain regions activating together, but we still don’t know exactly how this activity produces the ‘hurt’ of pain. Brain imaging should tell us more…