Background

Pain, both acute and chronic, represents a significant global health challenge affecting millions worldwide. Advancing our understanding of the underlying neural and molecular pathways remains crucial to developing more effective and targeted therapeutic strategies. Recent discoveries in pain neurobiology have elucidated complex interactions between peripheral and central nervous system components, molecular signaling cascades, and dynamic neural circuits. Translational pain research continues to bridge fundamental discoveries in neuroscience with clinical applications, offering promising avenues for novel analgesic development. Highlighting key findings from 2024 specifically, this Research Topic seeks to consolidate and underscore the latest advancements uncovering novel pain mechanisms, critical for improving patient outcomes and addressing unmet medical needs in pain management.

Goals

This Research Topic aims to deepen the understanding of mechanisms driving acute and chronic pain by highlighting recent discoveries from the year 2024. Substantive challenges remain in pinpointing precise cellular and molecular pathways responsible for pain onset, persistence, and modulation. Emerging advances in molecular neurobiology and neural circuit analysis provide pivotal insights, offering a clearer path to therapeutic discovery. Submissions to this collection may explore specific molecular targets, novel signaling pathways, and elucidate mechanisms behind altered neural circuit activities in various pain states. Innovative methodological advances—including single-cell sequencing, optogenetics, advanced imaging techniques, and computational modeling—are encouraged to provide detailed snapshots of pain dynamics. Another key goal is the facilitation of translational approaches, bridging bench-side discoveries with bedside applications, thereby supporting the development of new analgesic therapies and personalized treatments.

Scope and Information for Authors

We invite a range of manuscript types including Original Research, Review Articles, Perspectives, Opinions, and Systematic Reviews. Submissions should specifically focus on contributions published or based upon novel research findings from the year 2024, aligning closely with the remit of the Pain Mechanisms section. Topics of interest particularly include:

Molecular pathways involved in nociceptive signaling and sensitization

Functional analysis of neural circuits implicated in acute and chronic pain conditions

Translational research bridging fundamental neurobiology and clinical pain therapies

Recent technological and methodological advances relevant to pain mechanism research

Authors are encouraged to clearly identify how their studies advance the understanding of pain mechanisms and support translational potential in the context of improving therapeutic practices. Manuscripts should provide in-depth mechanistic insights relevant to either central or peripheral pathways, highlighting applications for improving pain management and contributing to the global Sustainable Development Goal of promoting Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3).

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Insights into Pain Mechanisms – 2024/2025