The UMB will construct a comprehensive 180,000 sq. ft. replacement building for its Dental School. This application concerns 10,413 sq. ft. of that space, which will support basic research in mechanisms of persistent pain. Eight investigators will share the space. Their research is on modulatory influences in nociceptive circuitry in response to persistent muscle and visceral tissue injury. The studies will improve understanding of the effects of neonatal pain experience on the development of pain circuitry, and can lead to the development of new clinical approaches for managing pain in premature, newborn and young infants.
Specific aims i nclude testing the hypotheses that: 1) neonatal intestinal inflammation results in changes in intestinal sensitivity in the adult and alterations in spinal visceroceptive processing; 2) neonatal injury results in changes in the excitability of adult peripheral nervous system neurons; and 3) gustatory stimulation during the vulnerable period in the neonate provides protection against permanent changes in pain circuitry in the adult, and too characterize the time over which the nervous system is sensitive to the impact of painful stimuli and anatomical and neurochemical changes from early exposure to painful stimuli. The space will include tissue culture, microscopy, digital imaging, dark room, cold room, polymer chain reaction (PCR) facility, glass wash and autoclave, and neuroscience research laboratories on the eighth floor of a ten floor building that includes clinical, office, educational and other research space for the Dental School, to be provided from non-federal funds.
