Testing reflex vs. reality in pain

A Dana-Farber Cancer Institute team has challenged the assumptions behind standard pain models, suggesting their use contributes to poor clinical translation of pain therapies and advocating adoption of behavioral tests reflecting pain sensation instead of avoidance, according to a December Nature letter.

Rebecca Baker, special assistant to the NIH director on pain and opioids, told BioCentury in July that the long history of poor translation has held back progress in understanding and treating pain (see "HEAL-ing Pain at NIH")...