Lost in translation: past, present, and future of pain research

Over the past 50 years, impressive progress has been made in both the basic neurobiology and treatment of pain. Central nervous system circuits for transmission and modulation have been described, and pain management has become a distinct specialty with multidisciplinary centers that include psychological specialists. New and improved interventional approaches are also helping many. On the research side, molecular genetic approaches, including optogenetics, fluorescent chemical detection methods, and calcium-based imaging have provided an unparalleled opportunity for future progress. However, our ability to translate these remarkable technical advances into better clinical outcomes has fallen short. Closer collaboration between scientists with different technical and analytical skills and between scientists and clinicians is the most logical way to accelerate our understanding how different human diseases cause pain and how to optimize development of new treatments.