‘Pain is not just a matter of nerves’, http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=169847&CultureCode=en, Medical University of Vienna, AlphaGalileo (10 November 2016).
Glial cells
Researchers (…) have now discovered that pain is not just a matter of nerves but that non-neuronal cells, the glial cells, are also involved in clinically relevant pain models and their activation is sufficient to amplify pain. (…) Glial cells are the commonest type of cells in the human brain and spinal cord. (…) The activation of glial cells results in a pain-amplifying effect, as well as spreading the pain to previously unaffected parts of the body. (…) The person’s own lifestyle can lead to activation of glial cells. Examples from the current literature are: depression, anxiety disorders and chronic stress, multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer’s and diabetes, as well as lack of exercise and poor diet.
Bibliographic information
„Gliogenic LTP Spreads Widely in Nociceptive Pathways“ M.T. Kronschläger, R. Drdla-Schutting, M. Gassner, S.D. Honsek, H.L. Teuchmann, J. Sandkühler. Science, to be published Nov. 10, 2016.