Does Dendritic Spine Plasticity Contribute to Pain? The Evidence Is Mushrooming
Two-photon imaging study links changes in the structure of dorsal horn dendritic spines to neuropathic pain, in a mouse spared nerve injury model
This article was originally published on the Pain Research Forum on18 June 2020
by Neil Andrews
Dendritic spines – small protrusions from the dendrites of neurons – have been familiar to neuroscientists for more than a century, especially to those studying the neuronal mechanisms of learning and memory. But the contribution of these structures to neurological diseases is still poorly understood. How changes in dendritic spine structure may play a part in pain is even less well known. Now, by examining changes in the structure of dendritic spines in vivo – over time, before and after nerve injury, in the same neurons – a new study provides fresh insight into the role of dendritic spine dynamics in pain…
