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Description of Research
A main focus of my overall research is aimed at exploring the basic, underlying central and peripheral nervous system mechanisms associated with rewarding and aversive stimuli. Experimental models, such as peripheral inflammation and neural injury, produce aversive behavioral responses that are associated with pain. A noxious stimulus usually engages specific peripheral mechanisms, causing several conscious sensations consisting of judgments regarding the location and extent of tissue damage. Typically, there is also an alteration in affect and an induction of subconscious somatic and autonomic responses. Using a variety of experimental models, central mechanisms of pain processing are elucidated using focal electrical stimulation, microinjection, and lesion techniques. Research on peripheral mechanisms focuses on the coupling between the sympathetic and somatic nervous system.
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