Cited by 3,781Pain Mechanisms and TreatmentsPain Management and TreatmentNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Neuronal plasticity: Increasing the gain in pain

Woolf, Clifford J., Salter, Michael W.·2000·Science

Abstract

We describe those sensations that are unpleasant, intense, or distressing as painful. Pain is not homogeneous, however, and comprises three categories: physiological, inflammatory, and neuropathic pain. Multiple mechanisms contribute, each of which is subject to or an expression of neural plasticity-the capacity of neurons to change their function, chemical profile, or structure. Here, we develop a conceptual framework for the contribution of plasticity in primary sensory and dorsal horn neurons to the pathogenesis of pain, identifying distinct forms of plasticity, which we term activation, modulation, and modification, that by increasing gain, elicit pain hypersensitivity.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1126/science.288.5472.1765

Cites

75 of 75 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 76 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Woolf, C. J., & Salter, M. W.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • University of Toronto (CA)
Corresponding author
Woolf, Clifford J.
Venue
Science
Published
2000-06-09
Volume
288
Issue
5472
Pages
1765-1768
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W2133316133
Cited by
3,781
References
76
Citations by year
2026: 62 · 2025: 101 · 2024: 96 · 2023: 104 · 2022: 99 · 2021: 99 · 2020: 129 · 2019: 112 · 2018: 124 · 2017: 140 · 2016: 150 · 2015: 170 · 2014: 142 · 2013: 188 · 2012: 166
FWCI
13.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Treatment
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
Keywords
neuroplasticity, pain, hyperalgesia, primary sensory neurons, dorsal horn neurons, neuropathic pain, inflammatory pain, plasticity mechanisms, pain modulation
MeSH terms
Animals, Humans, Inflammation, Models, Neurological, Synaptic Transmission, Neuronal Plasticity, Neurons, Afferent, Nociceptors, Pain, Signal Transduction, Posterior Horn Cells, Peripheral Nerve Injuries

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review