Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Acute and Chronic Tactile Sensory Testing after Spinal Cord Injury in Rats
Published on: April 4, 2012
Fire and phantoms after spinal cord injury: Na+ channels and central pain
Stephen G Waxman1, Bryan C Hains
1Department of Neurology and Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration Research, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA. stephen.waxman@yale.edu
Abstract:
Neuropathic pain and phantom phenomena occur commonly after spinal cord injury (SCI) but their molecular basis is not yet fully understood. Recent findings demonstrate abnormal expression of the Nav1.3 Na(+) channel within second-order spinal cord dorsal horn neurons and third-order thalamic neurons along the pain pathway after SCI, and suggest that this change makes these neurons hyperexcitable so that they act as pain amplifiers and generators. Delineation of molecular changes that contribute to hyperexcitability of pain-signaling neurons might lead to identification of molecular targets that will be useful in the treatment of neuropathic pain after SCI and related nervous system injuries.
Related Concept Videos
Nociception
Spinal Cord Injury ll: Pathophysiology
Secondary Spinal Cord Injury llI: Pathophysiology
Pain
Spinal Cord: Information Processing
Sensory Information Processing
Sensory information processing begins at the sensory receptors located in the skin and other tissues, which detect somatic sensory stimuli such as touch, temperature, or pain. These receptors function as catalysts, initiating...
Mechanically-gated Ion Channels

