Takahiro Takano, Ph.D.

Our laboratory is interested in developing alternative treatment strategies for chronic pain, with the focus on peripheral nervous system. Persistent pain causes the sensory nerves to transmit hyperalgesic signals, which contribute to the establishment of pathological condition in central nervous system, manifested as chronic pain. Conversely, manipulation of peripheral signals can reverse the chronic pain condition in central nervous system and thus restore the normal sensory perception. In particular, we study both acute and long-term pain relief by pharmacologically or mechanically manipulating sensory inputs in both orofacial neuropathic and joint inflammatory chronic pain models.