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Papers of the Week


Papers: 3 Jul 2021 - 9 Jul 2021


2021 Jul 08


Annu Rev Neurosci


44

Editor's Pick

Sources of Individual Differences in Pain.

Authors

Mogil JS
Annu Rev Neurosci. 2021 Jul 08; 44:1-25.
PMID: 34236890.

Abstract

Pain is an immense clinical and societal challenge, and the key to understanding and treating it is variability. Robust interindividual differences are consistently observed in pain sensitivity, susceptibility to developing painful disorders, and response to analgesic manipulations. This review examines the causes of this variability, including both organismic and environmental sources. Chronic pain development is a textbook example of a gene-environment interaction, requiring both chance initiating events (e.g., trauma, infection) and more immutable risk factors. The focus is on genetic factors, since twin studies have determined that a plurality of the variance likely derives from inherited genetic variants, but sex, age, ethnicity, personality variables, and environmental factors are also considered.