| Room 209 (Washington DC Convention Center) | |||
| Persistent Pain , the Hippocampus, and Depression – Mechanistic Links? | |||
| Clinical observations have shown that patients with chronic pain often become depressed, suggesting the importance of the affective or emotional component of pain and its impact on cognition. In this symposium, Kenneth E. McCarson, Ph.D., will discuss molecular and cellular events (particularly hippocampal neurotrophin expression and neurogenesis) that are similarly activated by persistent inflammatory pain or non-painful stress. These mechanisms may underlie the comorbidity of chronic pain and depression. Vanja Duric, Ph.D., will discuss evidence that neither analgesic nor antidepressant drugs alone fully protect the hippocampus from these nociception-evoked molecular events in the hippocampus. Lisa A. Teather, Ph.D., will discuss inflammation-like processes that are activated in the hippocampus by persistent inflammatory pain. Finally, David A. Fishbain, M.D. will provide a discussion of the clinical relevance of these neurological mechanisms and how the clinical pathologies of chronic pain and depression may be causally intertwined. Overall, this symposium is intended to identify and discuss mechanisms by which persistent pain induces stress-like damaging modulatory effects in the hippocampus, and how pain-evoked changes in this limbic region (which is a potential contributor to the emotional impact of pain) are involved in the pathophysiology of depression. | |||
| Moderator: | Kenneth E. McCarson, PhD | ||
| Presenters: | Vanja Duric, PhD David A. Fishbain, MD, FAPA Lisa A. Teather, PhD | ||
| Persistent Pain Evokes Changes in Hippocampal Cellular Architecture and Gene Expression Kenneth E. McCarson, PhD | |||
| Analgesics vs. Antidepressants: Effects on Spinal and Hippocampal Gene Expression Vanja Duric, PhD | |||
| Analgesic Propertiesof Antidepressants: a Literature Review David A. Fishbain, MD, FAPA | |||
| Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a mediator involved in the hippocampal-dependent processing of inflammation –related nociception Lisa A. Teather, PhD | |||
[Handout]
Return to the Schedule of Events
See more of Symposia