The prevalence and cost of chronic pain is a major physical and mental health care problem
in the United States today. As a result, there has been a recent explosion of research on …

Pain associated with mechanical, chemical, and thermal heat stimulation of the ocular
surface is mediated by trigeminal ganglion neurons, while cold thermoreceptors detect …

A renewed interest in the characteristics and neural basis of corneal and conjunctival
sensations is develo** in recent years due to the high incidence of discomfort and altered …

Understanding the role of voltage-gated sodium channels in nociception may provide
important insights into pain mechanisms. Voltage-gated sodium channels are critically …

Acute, inflammatory, and neuropathic pain can all be attenuated or abolished by local
treatment with sodium channel blockers such as lidocaine. The peripheral input that drives …

Nociceptive sensory neurons are unusual in expressing voltage-gated inward currents
carried by sodium channels resistant to block by tetrodotoxin (TTX) as well as currents …

Sensory acuity and motor dexterity deteriorate when human limbs cool down, but pain
perception persists and cold-induced pain can become excruciating. Evolutionary pressure …

Dorsal root ganglion neurons express an array of sodium channel isoforms allowing precise
control of excitability. An increasing body of literature indicates that regulation of firing …

Basal tearing is crucial to maintaining ocular surface wetness. Corneal cold thermoreceptors
sense small oscillations in ambient temperature and change their discharge accordingly …

Local anaesthetics have been used clinically for well over a century, but the molecular
mechanisms by which they alter specific functions of the peripheral nerve system remained …