被物体刺到产生的疼痛感,和普通接触带来的触碰感,对成人来说是两种截然不同的感觉。英国一项最新研究显示,胎儿要到约9个月即将呱呱坠地前,才能区分这两种感觉。
伦敦大学学院等机构的研究人员在新一期美国《当代生物学》杂志上报告说,婴儿出生后要采集血样,进行先天性疾病的例行筛检,采血方法是脚跟皮肤穿刺。研究人员利用这个机会测量了数十名婴儿的脑电图。
结果发现,早产儿对穿刺和普通触碰时的大脑反应基本相同,说明他们还不能区分这两种感觉。而足月出生的婴儿,被穿刺时的脑电图与接受普通触碰时的脑电图截然不同,这说明他们已经能区分疼痛与普通触碰的感觉。
研究人员分析,胎儿大脑在35周到37周时会形成一些重要的神经通路,这之后才会有区别疼痛的能力。
参与这次研究的洛伦佐·法布里齐说,“我们从什么时候能够区分不同的感觉,是神经发育研究中的一个基本问题,本次研究的成果为此提供了线索”。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
doi:10.1016/j.cub.2011.08.010
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A Shift in Sensory Processing that Enables the Developing Human Brain to Discriminate Touch from Pain
.Lorenzo Fabrizi, Rebeccah Slater, Alan Worley, Judith Meek, Stewart Boyd, Sofia Olhede, Maria Fitzgerald
Many persistent pain states (pain lasting for hours, days, or longer) are poorly treated because of the limitations of existing therapies. Analgesics such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids often provide incomplete pain relief and prolonged use results in the development of severe side effects. Identification of the key mediators of various types of pain could improve such therapies. Here, we tested the hypothesis that hitherto unrecognized cytokines and chemokines might act as mediators in inflammatory pain. We used ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation to induce persistent, abnormal sensitivity to pain in humans and rats. The expression of more than 90 different inflammatory mediators was measured in treated skin at the peak of UVB-induced hypersensitivity with custom-made