Allan Basbaum, PhD

Professor & Chair
Department of Anatomy
+1 415 502-1399
Research Description: 

Following upon our extensive earlier studies of the CNS circuits through which opioids exert their analgesic effects, our laboratory now examines the mechanisms through which tissue and nerve injury produce changes in the peripheral and central nervous system that result in persistent pain. In parallel studies we examine the circuits through which pruritogens generate itch. The hallmark of our work is a multidisciplinary approach to the problem, using molecular, neuroanatomical, pharmacological and behavioral analyses in wild type and genetically-modified mice, including knockouts and Cre- or reporter-expressing mice generated in our laboratory. By combining these studies with an analysis of the functional properties of molecularly-defined neurons, these studies examine the extent to which pain and itch circuits segregate or converge at the level of spinal cord interneurons and projection neurons. Also of great interest are the mechanisms through which monocytes, including peripheral macrophages and spinal cord microglia, contribute to the persistent pain following nerve injury. With a view to overcoming the neurological consequences of peripheral nerve damage, we also studied the effects of transplanting embryonic cortical GABAergic precursor cells into the spinal cord. We have demonstrated that the cells integrate synaptically and functionally into host neural circuits and can ameliorate the persistent pain and itch associated with nerve damage, effectively treating what we consider to be the "disease" of neuropathic pain. And recently using long-term calcium imaging of spinal cord and cortical neurons in awake, behaving mice we are examining the brain and spinal cord circuits and mechanisms through which pain and itch percepts are generated as well as the mechanisms through which different general anesthetics exert their analgesic action. Below are several comprehensive reviews that we have published on the topics described above.

Primary Thematic Area: 
Neurobiology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
None
Research Summary: 
The Neurological Basis of Pain and Its Control

Websites

Publications: 

International Association for the Study of Pain publications over the 50-year span.

Pain

Davis KD, Basbaum AI, Bushnell MC, Yarnitsky D, Fields HL

IL-31-dependent neurogenic inflammation restrains cutaneous type 2 immune response in allergic dermatitis.

Science immunology

Fassett MS, Braz JM, Castellanos CA, Salvatierra JJ, Sadeghi M, Yu X, Schroeder AW, Caston J, Munoz-Sandoval P, Roy S, Lazarevsky S, Mar DJ, Zhou CJ, Shin JS, Basbaum AI, Ansel KM

Functional imaging studies of acute administration of classic psychedelics, ketamine, and MDMA: Methodological limitations and convergent results.

Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews

Linguiti S, Vogel JW, Sydnor VJ, Pines A, Wellman N, Basbaum A, Eickhoff CR, Eickhoff SB, Edwards RR, Larsen B, McKinstry-Wu A, Scott JC, Roalf DR, Sharma V, Strain EC, Corder G, Dworkin RH, Satterthwaite TD

Pain and itch processing in aged mice.

The journal of pain

Braz JM, Hamel K, Craik V, Rodriguez-Rosado S, Bhardwaj K, Jewell M, Bieri G, Villeda SA, Basbaum AI