S. Canavero et V. Bonicalzi, THE NEUROCHEMISTRY OF CENTRAL PAIN - EVIDENCE FROM CLINICAL-STUDIES, HYPOTHESIS AND THERAPEUTIC IMPLICATIONS, Pain, 74(2-3), 1998, pp. 109-114
Recent evidence suggests that central pain, i.e., pain due to central
nervous system damage, may be due to a deranged neurotransmission betw
een the sensory thalamus and sensory cortical areas. Central pain can
be controlled either by opposing glutamate neurotransmission or potent
iating GABAergic transmission. It is speculated that a relative hypofu
nction of the GABAergic inhibition both at thalamic and cortical level
s leads to a sectorial excitatory hypertonus in those same areas. A bl
end of the two should mark each patient. A pharmacological dissection
approach is provided that should optimize the treatment, up to now glo
bally poor, of central pain. (C) 1998 International Association for th
e Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.