Supplementary CPIN-UTCSP lecture by Dr. Howard Fields
Join us for this supplementary virtual lecture by Dr. Howard Fields.
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Speaker
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Howard Fields, MD, PhD,
Professor, Neurology and Physiology Emeritus, University of California, San Francisco |
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Title
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The Neurobiology of Opioid Analgesia: a decisive view
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Date
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Wednesday, February 7th, 2024
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Time
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1:00 PM
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Virtual Link
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https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/88193014003
Meeting ID: 881 9301 4003, Passcode: 846011 |
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Host
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Derek van der Kooy, PhD,
Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto |
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Co-Sponsors
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Department of Molecular Genetics and the University of Toronto Centre for the Study of Pain
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Speaker Details | Click Here
Dr. Hance Clarke on CBC's The Current
Many Canadians suffer from debilitating chronic back pain, affecting their work, relationships and even mental health. We hear from researchers about a treatment called pain reprocessing therapy, which could offer some sweet relief by reframing that pain in our minds.
Listen to the segment (Dr. Hance Clarke speaks at the 15:19 minute mark) here.
Reduced excitatory neurotransmission in the hippocampus after inflammation and sevoflurane anaesthesia
Title: Reduced excitatory neurotransmission in the hippocampus after inflammation and sevoflurane anaesthesia
Author: Rossi Tomin
Editor: Georgia Hadjis
Perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PNDs) are deficits in attention, memory, executive function, and delirium that are regularly encountered postoperatively in adult patients. PNDs can be short or long-term and are correlated with additional long-term detrimental effects such as early retirement and increased mortality rates. While recently developed animal models show the combination of inflammation and general anaesthesia to be potential contributing factors, the exact mechanisms by which PNDs occur are unknown. To date, no effective preventative or treatment factors for PNDs exist. UTCSP member Dr. Beverley Orser and colleagues used an animal model to investigate the effects of an inflammatory response, coupled with application of a general anaesthetic, on excitatory synaptic transmission in the hippocampus, with an emphasis on the Schaffer collateral-CA1 pathway, which is important in learning and memory.
A previously employed animal model of anaesthetic-treated inflammation found a dysregulation in excitatory/inhibitory neurotransmission in the CA1 region of the hippocampus in the form of increased tonic inhibition , but excitatory neurotransmission was not investigated directly. To examine the excitatory component of the dysregulation, the authors generated a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and sevoflurane inflammation/anaesthesia model and used whole-cell voltage clamp recordings to observe the activity of CA1 neurons. The authors found a reduced amplitude of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents –which occur due to presynaptic glutamate release– that may result either from a reduction in function or quantity of postsynaptic AMPA receptors or a reduction of presynaptic glutamate release.
The results of this study, published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, indicate a disruption in the excitatory and inhibitory balance of neurotransmission in the CA1 neurons of mice. This finding further elucidates the contribution of dysregulated neurotransmission on PNDs and provides future potential therapeutic targets for the reinstatement of excitatory and inhibitory equilibrium.
Read more here:
Khodaei, S., Wang, D. S., Orser, B. A., (2023). Reduced excitatory neurotransmission in the hippocampus after inflammation and sevoflurane anaesthesia. British Journal of Anaesthesia, BJA Open, Volume 6, 2023, 100143, ISSN 2772-6096, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjao.2023.100143
PASSERELLE launches the POR-Mitacs Fellowship Program
Exciting news!
PASSERELLE launches the POR-Mitacs Fellowship Program with Mitacs Canada.
PASSERELLE SPOR National Training Entity and Mitacs invite undergraduate, college and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows from all disciplines to participate in this new patient-oriented research (POR)-Mitacs Fellowship Program.
Deadline: February 9, 2024
Learn more here
Got questions? Email: info@passerelle-nte.ca
Human Pain Seminar Series Summit: March 19 & 20, 2024
The Human Pain Seminar Series Summit is coming up soon, register today!
REGISTER HERE
SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT FOR THE POSTER COMPETITION HERE
We look forward to seeing you there!
UTCSP Annual Scientific Meeting: March 18th, 2024
The UTCSP Annual Scientific Meeting is coming up soon, register today!
REGISTER HERE
SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT FOR THE POSTER COMPETITION HERE
We look forward to seeing you there!
UTCSP Committee Members Develop Latest Issue of Canadian Journal of Pain
Big News!
Our Knowledge Translation Committee Co-Chairs, Mariana Bueno and Hance Clarke were integral to the development of the latest issue of the Canadian Journal of Pain, highlighting trainee contributions to the field of pain. You can read their editorial, entitled: The Future Is Bright: Highlighting Trainee Contributions to the Canadian Journal of Pain here.
Some papers that involved U of T trainees/researchers include:
- Unacknowledged Pain and Disenfranchised Grief: A Narrative Analysis of Physical and Emotional Pain in Complex MAiD Bereavement Stories https://doi.org/10.1080/24740527.2023.2231046
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The impact of preoperative patient education on postoperative pain, opioid use, and psychological outcomes: A narrative review
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Signs and symptoms of pediatric complex regional pain syndrome - type 1: A retrospective cohort study
- Post Viral Pain, Fatigue, and Sleep Disturbance Syndromes: Current knowledge and Future Directions
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24740527.2023.2272999?src=exp-la -
“We survived the pandemic together”: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canadian families living with chronic pain
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The impact of preoperative patient education on postoperative pain, opioid use, and psychological outcomes: A narrative review
Join us for a CPIN-UTCSP lecture by Dr. Howard Fields
Join us for this in-person lecture by Dr. Howard Fields.
Speaker Details | Click Here
INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF ASTROCYTE-NEURONAL METABOLIC COUPLING IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHRONIC PAIN - DR. GIANNINA DESCALZI
Dr. Giannina Descalzi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, at the Ontario Veterinary College, in the University of Guelph. Their research focuses on the intersection of pain and emotion, investigating the molecular mechanisms involved in chronic pain development and mental health disorders. Dr. Descalzi’s methods bridge animal models of chronic pain with molecular biology and systems neuroscience to enhance our understanding of chronic pain, mental health, and circuit-wide gene function. Dr. Descalzi holds a doctorate in Neuroscience from the University of Toronto, and completed a Banting postdoctoral fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, and a second postdoctoral fellowship at NYU. Dr. Descalzi’s work is has been funded through NARSAD Young Investigator Grants, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Azrieli Foundation, and the Canadian Pain Society’s Early Career Investigator Pain Research Grant.