A. V. Apkarian
This article contains text that is written in a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation | |
Institutions | Northwestern University |
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Apkar Vania Apkarian is a professor of
In 2008, Dr. Apkarian proposed the theory that chronic pain is a form of emotional learning, which popularized the study of reward learning within the pain research field. Dr. Apkarian earned a master's degree in
Career
Dr. Apkarian's early work with primate electrophysiology established that thalamic neurons can be physiologically characterized based on morphology and projections to the cortex, which led to the discovery that the thalamus dynamically encodes nociceptive stimuli in response to features of sensory stimuli. In the 1990s, his research transitioned to human brain imaging-based investigations of pain qualia and neural mechanisms underlying chronic pain.
Dr. Apkarian's body of research was pivotal in establishing neuroplasticity as a mechanism of chronic pain, with notable findings including, in 2004, his group first identified grey matter changes related to chronic back pain; in 2008, his group first described resting state network changes in chronic pain patients and white matter abnormalities related to complex regional pain syndrome; and in 2012, his group published the first evidence that
Dr. Apkarian's research has increasingly focused on the translation of neuroimaging findings to improve clinical treatment of chronic pain, including the development of preventative treatments and the strategic use of placebo treatment. This work should hopefully traverse through the alleviation of clinical pain conditions, as well as a more exact theoretical and mechanistic understanding of the brain.
Chronic pain is one of the biggest health problems in the world. In United States,
A.
Vania Apkarian and his colleagues at Northwestern University have found a series of abnormalities in the brains of chronic pain sufferers: the part of the prefrontal cortex linked to decision making appears to have shrunk in chronic pain patients. And another part of the prefrontal cortex linked to emotion is hyperactive. In fact, a unique study assessing background pain in chronic back-pain patients suggests that the constant pain these people experience is linked to activity almost entirely in emotion-regulating parts of the brain.[2]
According to Dr.
Criticisms of Dr. Apkarian's work include his focus on chronic low back pain, low rates of depression in his clinical cohorts, and emphasis on cortical mechanisms of chronic pain. Nevertheless, his use of rigorous statistical analyses, validation of findings in independent cohorts, replication of findings using multiple imaging modalities, use of longitudinal neuroimaging, and replication of key fMRI findings in rodent models of neuropathic pain have created a consistent body of research.
References
- ^ "American Chronic Pain Association". Archived from the original on 2009-01-11. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
- ^ "Technology Review: The Brain in Chronic Pain". Archived from the original on 2007-11-16.
- ^ "Pain link to permanent brain loss". BBC News. November 23, 2004.