“Of pain you could wish only one thing: that it should stop. Nothing in the world was so bad as physical pain. In the face of pain there are no heroes.” George Orwell, ‘1984’

Why is pain so hard to treat? How can we combine our understanding of the physiological processes with subjective perception to get better insights of the nature of pain? What is it about drug development for pain relief that makes it so hard to crack? And is there something brighter on the horizon?

Two leaders in the field, David Bennett (University of Oxford, UK) and Steve McMahon (Kings College London, UK) discuss these issues and more in this joint British Neuroscience Association and @PhysocTV webinar, held on 10th September 2020.

Neuroscience has revealed the secrets of the brain and nervous system to an extent that was beyond the realm of imagination just 10-20 years ago, let alone in 1949 when Orwell wrote his famous prophetic novel. Understanding pain, however, presents a unique challenge to neuroscientists and neurologists, being both a measurable physiological process, as well as deeply personal and subjective. Given the millions of people who suffer from pain every day, wishing only that it would stop, the need to find more effective treatments cannot be understated.

Organised by Talitha Kerrigan, University of Exeter, UK, Charlotte Stagg, University of Oxford, UK, Anne Cooke, The British Neuroscience Association and Susan Deuchars, University of Leeds, UK

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