Give me a pain that I am used to: distinct habituation patterns to painful and non-painful stimulation.

Pain habituation is associated with a decrease of activation in brain areas related to pain perception. However, little is known about the specificity of these decreases to pain, as habituation has also been described for other responses like spinal reflexes and other sensory responses. Thus, it might be hypothesized that previously reported reductions in activation are not specifically related to pain habituation.

Beyond Sharing Unpleasant Affect-Evidence for Pain-Specific Opioidergic Modulation of Empathy for Pain.

It is not known how specific the neural mechanisms underpinning empathy for different domains are. In the present study, we set out to test whether shared neural representations between first-hand pain and empathy for pain are pain-specific or extend to empathy for unpleasant affective touch as well. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and psychopharmacological experiments, we investigated if placebo analgesia reduces first-hand and empathic experiences of affective touch, and compared them with the effects on pain.

UPEC biomimickry at the urothelial barrier: lectin-functionalized PLGA microparticles for improved intravesical chemotherapy.

The urgent demand for more potent treatment schedules in bladder cancer (BCa) therapy calls for a refinement of the intravesical administration modalities. However, progress on drug delivery systems tailored to the penetration-hostile urothelial barrier lags behind the advancements in comparable fields. This study reports on a multimodal, carrier-based delivery concept that combines biorecognitive targeting with modified release strategies for improved intravesical chemotherapy.