The purposes of the study are (1) Assess the effectiveness of chronic electrical stimulation of midbrain sites for the relief of chronic pain in humans; (2) Evaluate the efficacy and mechanisms of traditional narcotic analgesia and compare these to chronic electrical stimulation of midbrain sites; (3) Validate experimental models of pain and their potential diagnostic use in chronic pain patients; and (4) Determine and compare the impact of both traditional narcotic and chronic electrical stimulation therapies on the functional, intellectual and emotional well being of these patients. The effects of chronic brain stimulation in surgical patients will be compared to the effects of narcotics previously administered to patients and to effects of narcotic regimes in non-surgical chronic pain patients. In addition, the effects of narcotics on perceptual and neural mechanisms of experimental induced pain will be assessed in pain-free volunteers.
