Author

sarahsynapses

What is a TRP channel, and how does it relate to pain?

by sarahsynapses September 2, 2021

written by sarahsynapses

Table of Contents

TRP: What it means
TRP channel classification
TRP channel functions
The Importance of TRP channels
TRP channels and nociception
TRP channel in Drosophila (fruit flies)
Sources

TRP: What it means

TRP: Transient Receptor Potential

transient

receptor

potential

superfamily of cation channels, there are about 28 TRP channels that share some structural similarity to each other

display greater diversity in activation mechanisms and selectivity than any other group of ion channels

located mostly on the plasma membrane of numerous animal cell types

TRP (transient receptor potential) • superfamily of cation channels, there are about 28 TRP channels that share some structural similarity to each other • display greater diversity in activation mechanisms and selectivity than any other group of ion channels • located mostly on the plasma membrane of numerous animal cell types

TRP channel classification

Five Group 1 Subfamilies

TRPC: “C” for canonical
TRPV: “V” for vanilloid
TRPVL: “VL” for vanilloid-like
TRPM: “M” for melastatin
TRPS: “S” for soromelastatin
TRPN: “N” for no mechanoreceptor potential C
TRPA: “A” for ankyrin

Two Group 2 TRP Subfamilies

TRPML: “ML” for mucolipin
TRPP: “P” for polycystic

An eighth subfamily, TRPY

consists of yeast TRPs, distantly related to the group 1 and group 2 TRPs (2, 3)

TRPs existing in yeast suggest the origin of TRP channels precedes the appearance of metazoan organisms

TRP channel functions

Play critical roles in sensory physiology, which include contributions vision, taste, olfaction, hearing, touch, thermo-sensation, osmosensation.

Enable individual cells to sense changes in their local environment.
Many TRP channels are activated by a variety of different stimuli and function as signal integrators
In the body, TRP channels are thought to behave like microscopic thermometers and are used in animals to sense hot or colt stimuli.

• Enable individual cells to sense changes in their local environment. • Many TRP channels are activated by a variety of different stimuli and function as signal integrators

• In the body, some TRP channels are thought to behave like microscopic thermometers and used in animals to sense hot or cold

The Importance of TRP channels

TRP channels have been found in a wide range of multicellular species, including worms, fruit flies, zebrafish, mice, and humans.

Significant for human health since disease is caused by mutations in at least four TRP channels.

TRP channels and nociception

https://www.mdpi.com/165602, **Nociceptive TRP Channels: Sensory Detectors and Transducers in Multiple Pain Pathologies**

Studying TRP channels in context of pain

“Timeline of research milestones in study of TRP channels in pain. TRPV1 has been the most studied of the TRP channels with respect to pain, and, thus, research milestones in the area are biased toward TRPV1 (right side of timeline). Note that 10 years after the description of capsazepine, Phase 1 trials were initiated with two TRPV1 antagonists. Other research milestones are centered on the discovery of other TRP family channels with sensory transduction capabilities or with functions in immune cells (left side of timeline). The role of TRPM8 in pain is unclear, but its discovery was the first description of a cool/cold temperature-sensitive sensory channel. ROS is reactive oxygen species” TRP channels and pain – ScienceDirect

TRP channel in Drosophila (fruit flies)

•Drosophila (fruit flies) respond to noxious stimuli and have become a powerful model organism for studying the genetics of nociception (Manev and Dimitrijevic, 2004, Tracey et al., 2003, Xu et al., 2006).

•The TRP channel painless was originally identified as a heat-responsive channel mediating thermal-based nociception in fly larvae (Sokabe et al., 2008, Tracey et al., 2003).

•But we are now beginning to understand that the TRP channel painless may be a polymodal receptor, suggesting that it also plays a role in other mechanisms of nociception (such as chemical, mechanical, & in sensitization)

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>•<em>Drosophila</em> (fruit flies) respond to noxious stimuli and have become a powerful model organism for studying the genetics of nociception (Manev and Dimitrijevic, 2004, Tracey et al., 2003, Xu et al., 2006). </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>•The <strong>TRP channel <em>painless</em> </strong>was originally identified as a heat-responsive channel mediating <strong>thermal-based nociception</strong> in fly larvae (Sokabe et al., 2008, Tracey et al., 2003).</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>•But we are now beginning to understand that the TRP channel <em>painless</em> may be a polymodal receptor, suggesting that it also <em>plays a role in other mechanisms of nociception (such as chemical, mechanical, & in sensitization)</em></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

•The painless mRNA encodes a protein of the transient receptor potential ion channel family. (TRP)

•painless is required for thermal and mechanical nociception (pain sensation), but not for sensing light touch

•painless is expressed in peripheral neurons that extend multiple branched dendrites beneath the larval epidermis, comparable to vertebrate pain receptors.

•An antibody to painless binds to localized dendritic structures is thought to be involved in nociceptive signaling.

Source: painless, a Drosophila Gene Essential for Nociception: Cell: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-8674(03)00272-1

Drosophila mutant painless flies cannot sense noxious mechanical and thermal stimuli.

The painless gene is expressed in multi-dendritic and chordotonal sensory neurons and is required for the activation of sensory neurons by noxious heat.

This means that we can easily contrast data collected from flies induced with chronic pain versus painless flies that we objectively know are not experiencing pain.

This helps decrease guessing of the subjective experience of pain, thus increasing validity!

Source: painless, a Drosophila Gene Essential for Nociception: Cell
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-8674(03)00272-1

Sources

Denis, V., and Cyert, M.S. (2002). Internal Ca2+ release in yeast is triggered by hypertonic shock and mediated by a TRP channel homologue. J Cell Biol 156, 29–34.

Mickle, A.D., Shepherd, A.J., and Mohapatra, D.P. (2016). Nociceptive TRP Channels: Sensory Detectors and Transducers in Multiple Pain Pathologies. Pharmaceuticals 9, 72.

Palmer, C.P., Zhou, X.-L., Lin, J., Loukin, S.H., Kung, C., and Saimi, Y. (2001). A TRP homolog in Saccharomyces cerevisiae forms an intracellular Ca2+-permeable channel in the yeast vacuolar membrane. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98, 7801–7805.

Venkatachalam, K., and Montell, C. (2007). TRP Channels. Annu Rev Biochem 76, 387–417.

The Cloned Capsaicin Receptor Integrates Multiple Pain-Producing Stimuli – ScienceDirect.

The capsaicin receptor: a heat-activated ion channel in the pain pathway | Nature.

painless, a Drosophila Gene Essential for Nociception: Cell.

Cortright, D.N., Krause, J.E., and Broom, D.C. (2007). TRP channels and pain. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) – Molecular Basis of Disease 1772, 978–988.

September 2, 2021

Chronic Pain Disability SciComm

Chronicling Pain

by sarahsynapses August 24, 2021

written by sarahsynapses

Table of Contents

Chronically Uninsured
Chronically A Patient
Chronically Denied
Chronically in Pain

A common misconception about pain patients is that the worst part is being in pain. However, I would argue that the equally difficult part of being a chronic pain patient is being constantly disbelieved and gaslighted by society and especially by medical professionals. Today, I am going to give you a glimpse into what it’s like to be a pain patient.

Chronically Uninsured

I have been trying to figure out why my anxiety has been higher than average lately, and today it finally hit me. It’s because as of yesterday, I no longer have health insurance. See, I graduated with my B.S. back in May, and I had insurance through my university. Three months is a short time to find a job that offers the benefits of health insurance, let alone during a pandemic.

As a chronic pain patient, I must go to monthly appointments at a pain management clinic to get access to the medication that allows me to function. Now, until I get new insurance, I’ll be having to pay $250 every single month for a less than fifteen-minute office visit just to refill my medications. Then, I’ll pay the full price for my pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medication.

I won’t be able to afford to get my nerve block and trigger point injections into my neck, meaning my migraines and neck pain will likely spiral out of control quickly.

I have been without health insurance before, and it is not fun. 0/10 would not recommend.

I am SO passionate about pain research, advocacy, and patient education because I know what it’s like to be on the other side of it from being a pain patient.

Pain management should not be a luxury that only the privileged have access to, but unfortunately it is. We deserve to live as pain free as possible without putting ourselves into debt.

Pain management should not be a luxury that only the privileged have access to, but unfortunately it is. We deserve to live as pain free as possible without putting ourselves into debt
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Chronically A Patient

When I was younger (end of high school and into the start of my undergraduate degree), I:

went to physical therapy three times a week
had monthly pain management clinic appointments
either monthly, or once every two to three months I would have appointments with:
- rheumatologist
- neurologist
- cardiologist
- gastroenterologist
would frequently get medical imaging done
had monthly infusions for migraine
would be on anywhere from 5 to 10 different daily medications at a time,
with weekly self-injections of a biologic (Embrel) used to treat autoimmune diseases
- the injections would make me extremely dizzy, tired, nauseous, and weak for the rest of the day, so whichever day I took it on, I could not do anything else.
had to take Methotrexate once a week, which is an immunosuppressant and a pill form of chemo used to treat rheumatoid arthritis
- Because of the methotrexate, I had to get weekly to monthly blood tests done
- The medicine would make me so sick that I would have to take it on a Friday night after school so that way I could use the weekend to “recover” from the side effects.

The treatments took up so much of my time, energy, and money. I almost flunked out of college, sunk into a deep depression, and was practically bedridden most of the time.

Still, I did not “look sick”, so I often would not get taken seriously by medical professionals.

Chronically Denied

I tried applying for disability at this time, because it was when I was at my sickest. The application process was grueling, time-consuming, and dehumanizing. I had to get even more imaging done and see multiple doctors of the state’s choosing. I had to fill out mounds of paperwork, taking hours upon hours to complete.

But, still, I went through the process.

During this time, I did not have health insurance. But I needed a referral letter from a doctor in order to start my disability case. I had just moved across the country, so I first had to go find a new in-state general practitioner, pay out of pocket to be seen, just to get a letter signed stating I had been seen.

So, with the letter being signed, I gathered up my years of medical records into a binder, and off I went to see the doctor appointed to me by the state to “evaluate my case” three months later after having some imaging completed.

The office was in a space that shared walls with a pawn shop and felt more like the DMV than a medical practice.

The front staff seemed annoyed at my very presence. The person working at the desk did not even take their eyes off their screen, handing me a clipboard with a thick stack of papers. Still, I smiled and asked what I was supposed to do next. “Take this. Take a seat. Wait your turn”, they scoffed, speaking to me like I was the most idiotic person they had ever met. It was as if I was inconveniencing them when I asked for a pen to fill out the paperwork, even though I had been asked to bring different pre-filled out forms. Hours went by, and it was finally my turn.

I was quickly shuffled into a small examination room, and in entered the already frazzled doctor.

Without as much as a hello, he asked “You are really young, too young to be in this much pain, and your imaging looks fine as well, so why are you here?”

Unsure of how to answer the question, I started listing my medical history and talking about how the pain impacts my life on a daily basis. Ten minutes later, the appointment was finished, and I was told that he would “file my report” and to be on my way.

A month later, I also had to see a government- appointed psychologist for a single “evaluation”, which went much like visit with the clinician went.

A few months after that, and I received a letter in the mail regarding the decision of whether I would be given disability. Based on how the appointments with the doctors went, I had a feeling I already knew the answer. But nothing could prepare me for the gut- wrenching reasoning behind my denial.

The letter simply stated that I was denied disability because I was deemed, and I quote “about well enough to work”.
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Chronically in Pain

As someone who suffers from chronic pain, I try to use my own experience to help others who are in similar situations. Society frequently dismisses pain as “all in your head.” Experiencing the frustrations brought on by pain’s isolating nature inspires my desire to raise awareness.

I strive to help break down the stigma connected with chronic pain and mental illness by honestly discussing my own problems in managing life as a pain patient in everyday life and throughout my career as a scientist.

To read more about my journey of getting a diagnosis being young and having chronic pain, see the blog post I wrote for PRF (Pain Research Forum) “Too young to be in this much Pain“.

To read about having chronic pain as a young scientist and scholar, click here.

August 24, 2021

The Pain triangle section 1: Sensation section 2: Emotion section 3: Cognition

Chronic Pain Neuroscience Nociception SciComm Science

Nociception is to Pain as Fuel is to Fire

by sarahsynapses August 20, 2021

written by sarahsynapses

Nociception is to Pain as Fuel is to Fire

left: the fire triangle section 1: Fuel section 2: Oxygen section 3: Heat in the center is a flame right: the pain triangle The Pain triangle section 1: Sensation section 2: Emotion section 3: Cognition in the center is a flame with the word pain over it

Fire and Pain Triangles

Nociception ≠ Pain

It is important not to confuse pain with the term nociception, as is so commonly done.

A great way to demonstrate the difference between nociception and pain is to compare it to the fire triangle.

So, what is the fire triangle?

The fire triangle

Firefighters are trained to utilize the “fire triangle” to understand the various components that make up a fire so they can most effectively extinguish said fire. All four components are needed for the fire to exist, so take away one of them and the fire is extinguished.

There are four main components that make up a fire:

Fuel

Oxygen

Heat

Chemical Reaction

Requirements for the Fire

Each of the four components have their own requirements and complexities:

The Fuel:

Needs to be a combustible material, meaning it needs to be able to catch fire and burn easily.

The fuel stores what is referred to as potential energy, which when burned is released as heat .

The Oxygen:

Must to be enough oxygen to sustain the fire.

(This is why candle snuffers exist: they quickly “snuff” out the oxygen of the flame by not allowing air into the system, thus extinguishing the fire).

The Heat:

Has to be hot enough to raise the substance to its ignition temperature.

The Chemical Reaction:

To produce fire, a certain type of reaction must occur between the fuel and the oxygen.

Termed a combustion reaction, heat releases, making it exothermic, and oxygen is added, termed redox, leading to the burning of fire.

The four components can comprise of different materials:

Fuel:

- Solids: Wood, fibers, dust, plastic
- Liquids: flammable liquids such as gasoline, pentane, ethanol, benzene, acetone
- Gases: natural gas such as methane CH₄

Oxidizing Agents:

The oxygen can produced by oxidizing agents.
- Solids: Ammonium nitrite
- Liquids: nitric acid, hydrogen peroxide, bleach, pool chemicals
- Gases: oxygen, chlorine, fluorine

Heat:

Various heat sources exist:

- Engines, motors, electrical sources, open flames from the sun, frictions, compressions

Chemical Reaction:

Ignition Sources:

- Heat, sparks, static electricity

Types of Fires

There are also different classes of fire, which all need to be managed differently depending on their components.

Class A: Burns on ordinary solid material

Wood, paper, some plastics, cloth

Class B: Involve flammable liquids

Petrol, oil, paraffin, alcohol, ether

Class C: Burn on flammable gases

Methane, butane, propane

Class D: Ignite with metals

Titanium, aluminum, magnesium, sodium, potassium

Class E: Caused by electrical sources

Electrical apparatuses, equipment, wiring

Class F: Ignite with oils

Cooking vegetable oils or fat

This is a post about pain and nociception… why am I talking about fire? Well…

Nociception is to the sensation of pain, akin to the way fuel is to fire.

The “Pain Triangle”

Like the fire triangle, there are four main components that make up pain

Sensation (Nociception)
Emotion
Cognition
Pain Experience

Similar to how different materials can cause different types of fires, different types of stimulus can cause different types of pain.

Defining Types of Pain: Stimulus Evoked

What Is nociception and how does it relate to pain?

Defining Nociception

What exactly is nociception?

Nociception is a sensory mechanism that allows organisms to detect potentially tissue-damaging, or noxious stimuli.

Nociception helps protect an organism from further damage (Cox et al., 2006). It serves a crucial biological purpose by alerting an organism to environmental dangers, inducing the sensation of pain, reflex withdrawal, and complex behavioral and emotional responses.

More specifically, nociception is the process by which intense thermal, mechanical, or chemical stimuli are detected by a subpopulation of peripheral nerve fibers, called nociceptors (Ossipov, 2012).

Nociception

≠

Pain

A Simplified Definition

Nociception is the perception or sensation of potential tissue damage in response to a harmful stimuli.

A More In-Depth Definition

Nociception is the process by which intense thermal, mechanical, or chemical stimuli are detected by a subpopulation of peripheral nerve fibers, called nociceptors (Basbaum and Jessell , 2000

How Is Nociception Detected?

Noxious stimuli are detected by nociceptors, which are a subpopulation of specialized high-threshold primary sensory neurons (Lumpkin and Caterina, 2007). Once tissue damage occurs, the nociceptors will transfer signals to the spinal cord and then transmit the signal to the brain for higher-level processing.

This process ultimately results in the conscious awareness of the sensation of pain (Tracey and Mantyh , 2007, ) or the “ouch” moment .

Nociceptive Pain Pathway Steps

1) Reception

occurs when sensory receptor cells are stimulated by an energy source (i.e., heat, cold, touch, sound, light, etc.)

2) Transduction

the process of transforming one form of energy to another (this occurs when chemical mediators have been released in response to the cell stimulation, creating second messengers from the reactions)

3) Transmission

involves the process from the receptor to the final destination to the brain, usually occurring via three neurons (first order, second order, third order neurons)

4) Perception

the “ouch!!” moment. (i.e., the conscious awareness of pain.)

5)Modulation

involves signals from the brain going back down the spinal cord to modify incoming impulses.

When does nociception occur?

Just like how heat must reach hot enough levels to raise the substance to its ignition temperature for a fire to burn, the intensity of the stimulus must be high enough to reach a noxious range for nociceptors to become activated and pain to be felt.

Different types of nociceptors

Fire can be fueled by different kinds of materials, and so too can pain be fueled by different kinds of nociceptors.

Vertebrate nociception

Vertebrates are animals who have a spinal cord, like you and me! Vertebrate nociceptors are characterized by “free” nerve endings that contact barrier epithelial tissues such as the skin, oral mucosa, or gut (Seol Hee Im.; Michael J. Galko 2011).The way they are built allows for the rapid sensory detection of high‐threshold stimuli capable of causing tissue damage.

There are two major classes of nociceptors:

Medium diameter myelinated (Aδ) afferents
Small diameter unmyelinated “C” fibers

A fibers:

Fast-conducting sensory nerves with myelinated axons.

Larger diameter and thicker myelin sheaths increases conduction
Aβ-fibers conduct touch signals from low-threshold mechanoreceptors with a velocity of 80 m/s and a diameter of 10 μm;
Aδ-fibers have a diameter of 2.5 μm and conduct cold, noxious, and thermal signals at 12 m/s.
The third and fastest conducting A-fiber is the Aα, which conducts proprioceptive information with a velocity of 120 m/s and a diameter of 20 μm.

C-fibers:

Slow-conducting unmyelinated thin sensory afferents with a diameter of 1 μm and a conduction velocity of approximately 1 m/s.

Unmyelinated C fibers

The unmyelinated C fibers are also heterogeneous.
- Like the myelinated afferents, most C fibers are polymodal (ie they include a population that is both heat and mechanically sensitive (CMHs) (Perl, 2007)).
Heat-responsive, mechanically insensitive, unmyelinated afferents (so-called silent nociceptors) develop mechanical sensitivity only in the setting of injury (Schmidt et al., 1995).
- These afferents are more responsive to chemical stimuli (capsaicin or histamine) compared to the CMHs
- Likely come into play when the chemical milieu of inflammation alters their properties.
- Subsets of these afferents are also responsive to a variety of itch-producing pruritogens.

Nociceptor classes

Nociceptors can also be distinguished according to the type of potentially painful stimuli they respond to, for example:

Thermal: React to intense hot or cold temperatures, such as touching a hot candle flame.

To heat (TRPV1)
To cold (TRPM8)

Chemical: React to chemicals such as substance P or prostaglandins released following tissue damage or from external chemicals such as topical capsaicin.

To acidic milieu (ASICs)
To chemical irritants (TRPA1)

Mechanical: Activated when too much strain, stretch occurs to a muscle or tendon, respond only to intense mechanical stimulation such as stretching, cutting, pulling, or pinching.

Mechano-thermal: Like the name implies, these nociceptors respond to both mechanical and thermal stimuli.

Polymodal: respond to multiple types of stimuli, such as chemical, thermal, and mechanical.

Silent: Must first be activated by tissue inflammation before it can respond to chemical, thermal, or mechanical stimuli.

Nociceptors can be distinguished according to the where it is that they are located, for example:

Skin:

High threshold mechanonociceptors,
Thermal nociceptors
Chemical nociceptors
Polymodal nociceptors

Joint and ligaments:

High threshold mechanonociceptors
Polymodal nociceptors
“Silent nociceptors”

Visceral (located within an organ):

Mechanical pressure nociceptors
Temperature nociceptors
Chemical nociceptors
Silent nociceptors (the majority of the visceral nociceptors are silent)

The nociceptors differ in both the way they behave and what they comprise of on a molecular level. Each class of nociceptor is responsible for detecting different types of pain.

Why we need nociception

The functional significance of pain is shown by individuals who are born with defects in their nociceptive processing. Unfortunately, patients with congenital insensitivity to pain typically do not survive past their twenties (Basbaum et al., 2009) because their inability to perceive pain means they are more likely to suffer from an accumulation of injuries such as burns, bruises, sprains, and broken bones, wounds over time, leading to significant health complications (Al Amroh et al., 2020) .

Similar to how a fire needs fuel to burn, pain needs the sensation of nociception to occur.

Sources

Al Amroh, H.H., Reyes, A.L., Barret Austin Hillary, J., and Al Khaffaf, W.H. (2020). Painless: a case of congenital insensitivity to pain in a 5-year-old male. Oxford Medical Case Reports 2020.

Basbaum, A.I., Bautista, D.M., Scherrer, G., and Julius, D. (2009). Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Pain. Cell 139, 267–284.

Cervero, F., and Merskey, H. (1996). What is a noxious stimulus? Pain Forum 5, 157–161.

Dubin, A.E., and Patapoutian, A. (2010).

Nociceptors: the sensors of the pain pathway. J Clin Invest 120, 3760–3772.

Gold, M.S. Peripheral Pain Mechanisms and Nociceptor Sensitization. 15.

Neely, G.G., Hess, A., Costigan, M., Keene, A.C., Goulas, S., Langeslag, M., Griffin, R.S., Belfer, I., Dai, F., Smith, S.B., et al. (2010). A Genome-wide Drosophila Screen for Heat Nociception Identifies α2δ3 as an Evolutionarily Conserved Pain Gene. Cell 143, 628–638.

Ossipov, M.H. (2012). The Perception and Endogenous Modulation of Pain. Scientifica 2012, e561761.

Perl, E.R. (2007). Ideas about pain, a historical view. Nat Rev Neurosci 8, 71–80.

Schmidt, R., Schmelz, M., Forster, C., Ringkamp, M., Torebjork, E., and Handwerker, H. (1995). Novel classes of responsive and unresponsive C nociceptors in human skin. J. Neurosci. 15, 333–341.

Tracey, W.D. (2017). Nociception. Current Biology 27, R129–R133.

(2017). The Fire Triangle Explained.

Pokes, sunburn, and hot sauce: Drosophila as an emerging model for the biology of nociception – Im – 2012 – Developmental Dynamics – Wiley Online Library.

Gold – Peripheral Pain Mechanisms and Nociceptor Sensitiz.pdf.

Pain Principles (Section 2, Chapter 6) Neuroscience Online: An Electronic Textbook for the Neurosciences | Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy – The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

Mechanisms of sensory transduction in the skin | Nature.

Congenital Insensitivity to Pain – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics.

August 20, 2021

"Trapped in a Glass Box", drawing of a female sitting in a glass box. there is a red gradient overlaying the image

Chronic Pain Disability SciComm Science

Having Chronic Pain As a Young Scientist and Scholar

by sarahsynapses August 6, 2021

written by sarahsynapses

Having Chronic Pain As a Young Scientist and Scholar

Advice, Challenges, Anecdotes, & Ways in Which Science and Academia Can Support Those In Pain

My Journey with Pain

At the time of writing this, I am 26 years old, and I just graduated with my bachelor’s degree in science, with a major in Biology and minor in Psychology in May 2021. It was a long, arduous road to get my degree, full of uncertainty as well as setback after setback.

I hope that by being open and transparent in my own journey, that I can help others not have to feel as isolated as I did while trying to navigate balancing my health, pain, and mental health with my studies and research. No one talked about what it’s like to be young and in pain in academia, so I often tried hiding it for fear that I would be deemed lesser, or unworthy.

To read more about my journey of getting a diagnosis while being young with chronic pain, see the blog post I wrote for PRF (Pain Research Forum) “Too young to be in this much Pain“.

Great, You Graduated! Now Say Goodbye To Your Health Insurance

For the last two years, I have had health insurance through my university. I paid for it with my financial aid. But, since I graduated in May, my coverage ends a week from now. So, in one week I will be uninsured.

Having less than three months to secure a job that offers health insurance is difficult but given the current times it is near impossible for many students, especially those from low-income backgrounds. When I asked for advice on what to do while I am still in the job market, I was told to simply “see if go back on my parents’ plan”.

First, when you hit age 26 in America you can no longer be eligible to be on your parents’ insurance. I am tired of it being assumed that every new graduate is that young. Second, it is bold to assume that everyone has the luxury of having parents that have insurance. Once again, those who come from a Low Socio-economic Background get left behind.

My pain medication helps me be able to function, which allows me to be able to work. But, to get pain medication you are required to do monthly appointments with your pain clinician. So, without insurance, every month I will be paying $250 for a fifteen-minute office visit to refill my medication, and that does not include the cost of the medication itself. Here’s to hoping I do not get sick on top of everything. See the problem here?

How my Pain Has Shaped Who I Am

Outwards, you would never know I suffer from pain on a daily basis, but that is the way of chronic illnesses- invisible, yet unrelenting. I often feel as if I am a voodoo doll- always being poked and prodded at.

Externally, I am constantly taking jabs from a society and medical professionals that do not believe my pain is real, thinking I am just drug and attention seeking.

I constantly must fight for my right to exist in a world where my pain only seems to matter when it is convenient for others. The second my pain becomes an inconvenience is when the compassion dissipates, and ableism seeps in.

I have experienced firsthand just how overwhelming and debilitating medical conditions can be, especially when nothing seems to work. It is through my own journey in navigating chronic illness and pain that has led me to shift my own feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness into a transformative, empowering perspective allowing me to understand and appreciate the staggering magnitude and need for translational research, advocacy, and science communication.

So, being in that I am a researcher in the neuroscience of preclinical chronic pain as well as a patient, I have taken it upon myself to approach my pain differently and share my experiences as I navigate the complex world of academia and science.

Imposter Syndrome

As a young scientist myself, I’d be lying if I said I have not had moment where I doubted if I belonged in science. But everyone has these doubts. There’s actually a term for it too. It’s known as Imposter Syndrome. If you’re struggling with feeling like you don’t belong, here’s a great article titled “Coping with Imposter Syndrome in Academia and Research”.

When I was an undergraduate, I felt completely alone in navigating the murky waters of dealing with my chronic illness and chronic pain. As I began dipping my toes in the world of research, I struggled with feeling inadequate due to my health. Why would any PI (Principle Investigator- meaning head of a laboratory) want me in their lab when they could have a healthy student? Wouldn’t I just be a burden?

You Belong in Science

Just know. You are not alone, and your condition does not make you any less worthy of being in STEM.

I fundamentally believe in encouraging inclusion and bringing awareness to the full spectrum of diversity. We can all learn from our differences to have more impactful and socially aware scientists, researchers, educators, and medical professionals.

The biomedical field is in dire need of more inclusion and diversity for those with disabilities, and it is important invisible illnesses start being included in the conversation instead of overlooked.

Be Proactive

If you are a chronic pain patient, you are probably familiar with the tedious requirements of monthly appointments with your pain clinicians. If you are going to have to go to them, you may as well get the most out of them. Something I learned during my time as an undergraduate student and researcher is the importance of being proactive in managing my pain instead of purely reactive.

During each of my monthly appointments with my pain management clinician, I talk about how academia, research, and so on are going in my life. Then, I discuss my predicted stress levels and the ways in which they would likely influence the intensity and onset of my upcoming pain levels based on the trends I had identified throughout the years of navigating being a pain patient and college student.

For example:

If I know that this coming month is say finals, based on my experience of it we can predict that my pain levels will skyrocket. I will probably get sick as my immune system freaks out even more than normal when extra stress is added to the mix. I will need to up my pain medication for that period of time, to allow me to be able to function enough to get through the long, sleepless nights and days. (This dosage will be decreased back down to my “baseline dosage” when exam period is over).

I know that the migraines will get worse, so before waiting for that to happen, I can schedule to have nerve block neck injections directly prior to when I expect the flare up to be.

I’ll also likely need steroids as well as stronger antiinflammation medication, so we consider the option of prescribing them now, so I will have them to take exactly when the predicted flare up first occurs- this works much more efficiently than waiting for the pain flare up to get to its peak- at which time it is much harder to treat and manage).

This can shave days, even weeks off in recovery time.

If taught correctly on both ends, the patient and practitioner can start working more proactively together. Not only does this benefit the clinician by making their treatments smoother and more effective, but it also is a huge benefit to the patient- both physically and mentally. This approach helps put some of the control back into the patient’s hands- a huge deal for pain patients who tend to feel so desperately helpless and exhausted with their health.

Succeeding as a Scholar in Pain

Achieving success as a scholar while pain is difficult, but not impossible. Do not let anyone tell you that you do not belong in science, no matter how well-intentioned they may seem. I have had a multitude of medical doctors- ranging from rheumatologists, neurologists, general practitioners, and pain management specialists urge me to reconsider my career path. When I first entered College, I was told that a science degree would likely be “too much” for me to handle, and to consider changing majors or dropping out entirely.

Luckily, I was persistent and did not listen, and although it took a while, I did end up graduating. In fact, I ended up on the Dean’s list, Cum Laude, having presented multiple scientific posters, attended a national scientific conference in which I presented at, and I have a paper that is currently in review to be published in the Rutgers Undergraduate Journal of Biology.

So, here is some advice I have that will hopefully help someone out there struggling with pain.

Practice excellent time management

While it is vital for everyone in academia to have good time management, having a chronic illness such as pain means one must learn to plan accordingly. What do I mean by this? Well, due to the unpredictable nature of chronic pain, it is of utmost importance to stay on top, and if possible, ahead of all assignments, studying and tasks.

Chronic pain can be overwhelming, and so too can academia. To help with this, I found breaking apart my assignments and studying into bite-sized micro tasks really helps. I create mini deadlines for myself and do my best to stick to them. While the actual assignment may only have one due date, I may assign in 6 miniature due dates. Otherwise, it is too easy to put things off until the last minute.

Procrastinating is a risky gamble when you have chronic illness. You never really know when a flare up will occur.

Have multiple “pain kits” for yourself

In a drawer next to by bed and couch I would keep supplies ready. When pain strikes while you are trying to make a deadline, you’ll thank yourself for having things handy such as:

Heating pad
Pain Cream or Gel
Snacks- both salty and sweet. Trying study and being hungry but hurting too much to get yourself food makes it even more difficult to focus
Water
Pencils, pens, and highlighters
Paper with a clipboard or a notebook
Compression gloves to use when your hands ache
Pillows and blankets for when no matter how you sit or lay it feels like you are on a pile of rocks
Extra medication
Earphones to listen to music to help distract yourself from the pain
Aromatherapy such as roll-on essential oils- I found that scents such as lavender, orange, and eucalyptus help me with anxiety, and sometimes even ease my headaches
Dry Shampoo- for when taking a shower is too much to handle, but your hair is bothering you
Chapstick- for dry or cracked lips, because when I’m stressed, I tend to bite my lips
In the Freezer, I always keep multiple Ice packs and eye masks ready for when inflammation or migraines flare

Plan and organize instead of procrastinate and stress

Before the semester begins, decide how you are going to keep track of all commitments. Do not wait until the semester has already begun! This is because it’s a good idea to write down all of your doctor appointments, treatments, infusions, and so on in the same place that you will be keeping track of your coursework in. Many specialists are hard to get into, and schedule months in advance, so it is crucial that you map out when you have inflexible appointments and treatments as soon as possible.

Some professors will send out the syllabi before the semester even starts, which means you can get a head start on planning. Either way, as soon as you get your syllabus, write out all of your due dates, quizzes, exams, presentations, etc. for all classes in a calendar/planner.

For example, when I get occipital nerve block injections in my neck, which help to prevent migraines, it puts me out of commission for the rest of the day. So, If I have injections on Thursday and an assignment due Friday, then I would try getting the assignment complete by Wednesday at the latest.

Communicate With Your Professors

If any of your coursework falls during the same time as an immovable medical appointment, reach out to the professor IMMEDIETLEY. Do not wait until last minute to tell your professor if you have the option of telling them within the first week of class. Be respectful of both you and your professor’s time.

It is up to you whether you disclose any of your health condition with them, so you do not have to give them the exact details, but it is up to you to communicate with them about possibly rescheduling things.

Keep paper trails now incase of gaslighting later.

Have it in writing (so an email is ideal) that you communicated with your professor at the start of the semester. There are multiple reasons for this. Your professor is human just like you and may not remember, so it is always good to be able to refer to later.

Having a “paper trail” also protects you if you ever run into problems down the line. I have had some wonderful professors who were more than willing to work with me and my pain, but I have had others who could have cared less.

Knowing When to Rest

Acknowledge that you will have days where the pain “wins” and try to allow for wiggle room in your schedule for the days you can’t get out of bed. Pain does not care about convenience, or our grades, or deadlines. No matter how hard we try, there will always be days where there is nothing more you can do but rest.

But remember, resting is NOT doing “nothing”. It is actively listening to your body so that you can accomplish great things later.

In academia, we’re all too familiar with the phrase “publish or perish”. Unfortunately, this is just one of the prevalent toxic mentalities running rampant throughout the STEM fields. But this toxic productivity culture of academia does not have to define you, and it is slowly starting to change.

To Disclose Or Not To Disclose …. That is the Question.

Choosing whether or not to disclose your chronic pain (or any health-related issue) to potential or current employers is a deeply personal choice. With an invisible illness such as chronic pain, there may be no outward signs.

Legally, potential employers are not allowed to discriminate against a person due to their health. But in the real world, it is unfortunately a risk you are going to have to decide to take or not. Either disclosing or not both come with inherit pros and cons- it will never be completely clear cut in terms of what the right decision will be.

Here is a link to a fantastic article written back in 2005 by Dr. Irene S. Levine, published on ScienceMag titled “To Tell or Not to Tell: Coping With Chronic Illness as a Science Trainee”.

Encouraging & Supporting Scientists, Scholars, & Research Trainees With Chronic Pain

So what can Labs and PI’s do to support their scientists and research trainees with chronic pain (or other illnesses)? I have been on both ends of the spectrum when it comes to support- I have had the most understanding, caring, and empathetic environments as well as ones that made me feel as if I truly did not belong. Drawing from those experiences, below I’ll describe some ideas that can be implemented to foster more inclusive, and accommodating lab environments.

Print out Procedures and Protocols

A common occurrence in people who have chronic pain is experiencing what is referred to as “brain fog”. Brain fog is incredibly frustrating, as it makes a person lose their train of thought. When possible, have printouts of different experimental procedures available. It can be embarrassing to have to ask for them if they even exist, but they are extremely useful when in the middle of brain fog because it helps if we can keep track of what comes next and what we have already done.

Never make assumptions based on appearance

If you have a scientist or research trainee who has disclosed that they have chronic pain, keep in mind that it may not always be noticeable to you when their pain levels are high. As a young scientist, we often feel as if we have something to prove, and so we may try to just “grin and bear” it through the pain.

Many lab facilities have equipment or meetings on different floors within a building. If you are going to another floor, ask us if we want to take the elevator or stairs instead of assuming that we are fine with walking up and down the stairs. This seems like a tiny thing, but to us it could mean the difference between a flare up or manageable pain day. I know that science is a fast-paced environment but taking the time to use an elevator won’t take up that much of your time.

There have been so many times where I have been with my entire lab group, and everyone took the stairs and walked incredibly fast no matter what. I remember trying so hard to shallow my breathing on days where my asthma was acting up because I foolishly was worried about seeming “out of shape” (a problematic term in itself, but I digress). I would go to the restroom and quickly use my inhaler out of sight and using toilet paper to dab the sweat from my brow, as if I had something to be ashamed of.

Think Before You Speak

Avoid saying things like “You can take the elevator if you want, but I am going to take the stairs to get exercise in”. I know that it seems like an innocent statement, but to those in pain it is a stark reminder of our limitations. Yes, many of us could take the stairs, but we will pay for it later. When I did choose to use the elevator, I sometimes felt left out or burdensome when the entire group still decided to use the stairs.

Lead By Example (Practice What You Preach)

Make it clear to everyone that breaks are not just available, but encouraged and feasible. If we never see you taking a break, then how could we being low on the proverbial totem pole feel comfortable with taking them ourselves? With the go-go-go nature of academia, it is easy to lose sight of the importance of mental and physical well-being.

I highly recommend reading this great article “Employers, don’t tell us to take breaks if we can’t” written by Dr. Adam Ruben, who is a noted science writer, communicator, and biologist. It discusses the problems stemming from “faux- altruistic” reminders of self-care. One of my favorite messages in his article is “Universities and employers, please stop telling scientists to prioritize recreation while simultaneously expecting a level of productivity that makes it unrealistic or inadvisable to do so”.

The lack of breaks is a real barrier for those with chronic pain, and it can lead to both burn-out, but flare ups in pain that could have been prevented.

The Problem With Taking Attendance For Class

With the unpredictability of pain, know that you are going to end up missing classes, so just be aware of this. Some professors take attendance as a grade. Typically, it is just a couple of points, but I have had a few classes where it made the difference between an A or a B.

While you should always check to see if you can make up the points elsewhere in the class, it is important to note that rarely have I had a professor actually agree to letting me do any sort of extra credit, saying it would be “unfair to the rest of the classmates that were dutifully in class”.

The Uncaring Professor

Unfortunately, not all professors or PI’s will be understanding, and some seem to go out of their way to make it difficult to get accommodations, especially if you are not technically “protected” through disability.

For instance, I applied for government disability around 4 years ago, and was denied on the grounds that I am, and I quote “about well enough to work”.

University “Accommodation” services… or just more barriers?

Universities typically have their own form of disability, and you can go through the school to get accommodations. The issue here is the time it takes to actually receive those accommodations. Not to mention, having to get “official” accommodations requires us to put out even more energy that we simply do not have. It means extra paperwork, extra appointments, and extra time lost.

I’ll be writing more in the future about having chronic pain and ways to support those with pain in science and academia, so stay tuned for more!

Further Resources

Having any chronic illness and being a young scientist are terrifying enough on their own, so below I below are links to two great articles I came across about some of the challenges of having chronic illness as a science trainee/ scientist.

1)“When sickness interrupts science” How to balance a long-term illness and a research career.

2) “Chronic Illness and the Academic Career” The hidden epidemic in higher education.

August 6, 2021

Chaos From Within drawing. the drawing includes a woman with her head in her hands. the shadows on her are in purple, with a red light representing migraine pain over her right half. the background has teal and red whispy neurons

Art Blogging Chronic Pain Neuroscience SciArt SciComm Science

How Chronic Pain Inspires me as a Scientist and Artist

by sarahsynapses July 27, 2021

written by sarahsynapses

Table Of Contents

The Inspiration
The Process
The Meaning
Researching Chronic Pain:
What’s the problem?

The Inspiration

I utilize art as a way to understand the world around me and to communicate experiences and emotions that otherwise remain completely internalized.

My interest in pain communication began through being a chronic pain patient myself. As I tried to understand my own complex pain, I became increasingly fascinated by the field in its entirety.

The Process

To construct this piece, I hand-drew an initial sketch to map out the general layout of the design in pencil. Once I was happy with the rough sketch, I traced over the graphite lines with a black fineliner pen.

Hand-drawn sketch, fine-line sharpie and pencil by SarahSynapses

Next, I scanned in the image to my computer and uploaded it to a Krita, which is a free digital drawing software. From there, I drew over the original sketch and refined the details.

Side note: Now, I use programs from the Adobe suite (such as Photoshop and Illustrator) to create digital art, but Krita was a fantastic starter program. If you are interested into getting into digital art, but do not want to commit to a paid program right off the bat, I highly suggest checking out Krita. It is free, has everything you need, and is extremely user friendly.

Comparison of the initial sketch to the final drawing.

The Meaning

Digital Painting: Chaos from Within, by SarahSynapses

The background was designed to seem like neurons emerging in a petri dish. I wanted to juxtapose the conventional sterile collection of neurons cultured in a lab with the intricacy of neural networks going haywire within an individual’s brain. The exact neural mechanisms behind what causes chronic pain remains elusive to pain scientists, and this image shows how devastating tiny irregularities at the neural level can be to the entire biological system.

Some of my independent research has involved exploring possible causations for the low translational success rates in pain research, where just 2% of new pain therapeutics from phase one trials end up making it to clinical approval, compared to 10% for other conditions.

In the United States, a staggering one out of every ten suicide victims also suffered chronic pain (according to a study from the US pain foundation). So clearly, pain patients are in desperate need of better support systems, more treatment options, and stronger education in coping with their illnesses.

Having an unseen illness, whether mental or physical, can be isolating for a person, and this artwork depicts the internal chaos that wreaks havoc from within.

Pain is frequently dismissed as “all in your head,” which is incredibly invalidating and quite aggravating for the patient who is likely already experiencing an extreme amount of inner turmoil.

Pain Scale, it's even less effective for people with chronic pain

Researching Chronic Pain:

What’s the problem?

The subjective nature of pain makes it difficult for researchers and practitioners alike to objectively quantify it.

Assessing Pain in Animals: Since animals are unable to verbally tell you how much pain they are in, we need more ways to assess their levels of nociception (ie the perception of potential tissue damage in response to a harmful stimuli) within preclinical research.

Assessing Pain in Humans: The current clinical methods of assessing pain in patients solely with the classic pain scale going from one being the least amount of pain to ten being the greatest amount is outdated, because it allows for too much room for error and bias from both the clinician and patients.

Bringing visual awareness to an invisible condition helps to validate the patient’s experience. Making science more accessible is an integral driving force to why I am continuously experimenting with various graphical representations and illustrations of pain-related topics to help peers and patients understand complex topics within the field.

-SarahSynapses

Sources

Rogers ML, Joiner TE, Shahar G. Suicidality in Chronic Illness: An Overview of Cognitive-Affective and Interpersonal Factors. J Clin Psychol Med Settings. 2021 Mar;28(1):137-148.

July 27, 2021

Neuroscience SciComm Science

Octopuses Have Affective Pain Experience

by sarahsynapses July 16, 2021

written by sarahsynapses

I have some pretty cool news to share-I’m officially a published PRF (Pain Research Forum) author!

Below is the link to the news article I wrote on Crook’s 2021 study: “Behavioral and neurophysiological evidence suggests affective pain experience in octopus.”

https://www.painresearchforum.org/news/173092-octopuses-have-affective-pain-experience

Graphical Abstract I made summarizing some of the key points of Crook’s paper

This summer (2021), I am leading a Journal Club for Dr. Nathan Fried’s neuroscience of chronic pain lab. I gave an example presentation at the beginning of the summer, and chose to do the article that I had written a news article for PRF for. Below, I have included some of the slides from my journal club presentation of Crook’s 2021 study: “Behavioral and neurophysiological evidence suggests affective pain experience in octopus”.

Key Terms:

Nociceptors:		sensory receptors for painful stimuli
Peripheral Nervous System:		includes all the nerves outside the central nervous system
Peripheral Sensitization		decreased threshold response of the sensory nerve fibers in the peripheral to external stimulus
Spontaneous Activity		automatic firing of neurons, or firing in the absence of observable stimuli ¹
Nociceptive Sensitization		a non-associative learning process in which repeated administration of a noxious stimulus results in the progressive amplification of a pain-related response

Sources

Auvray, M., Myin, E. & Spence, C. The sensory-discriminative and affective-motivational aspects of pain. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews34, 214–223 (2010).

Birch J. Animal sentience and the precautionary principle.Anim. Sentience. 2017; 2: 1

Broom D.M. Cognitive ability and sentience: which aquatic animals should be protected?.Dis. Aquat. Organ. 2007; 75: 99-108

Carbone (2021) Scientific Reports vol 11 art 493

Crook, R. J., Hanlon, R. T. & Walters, E. T. Squid Have Nociceptors That Display Widespread Long-Term Sensitization and Spontaneous Activity after Bodily Injury. J. Neurosci.33, 10021 (2013).

Crook, R. J. Behavioral and neurophysiological evidence suggests affective pain experience in octopus. iScience24, (2021).

Derbyshire S.W.G. Fish lack the brains and the psychology for pain.Anim. Sentience. 2016; 025: 1-4

Im, S. H. and Galko, M. J. (2012). Pokes, sunburn, and hot sauce: Drosophila as an emerging model for the biology of nociception. Dev. Dyn. 241, 16-26.

Key B. Why fish do not feel pain.Anim. Sentience. 2016; 3: 1-33

King, Barbara J. and Marino, Lori (2019) Octopus minds must lead to octopus ethics. Animal Sentience 26(14)

Neely, G. C., Hess, A., Costigan, M., Keene, A. C., Goulas, S., Langeslag, M., Griffin, R. S., Belfer, I., Dai, F., Smith, S. B., et al. (2010). A genome-wide Drosophila screen for heat nociception identifies α2δ3 as an evolutionarily conserved pain gene. Cell 143, 628-638

Pain in fish: Weighing the evidence. at <https://www.seafoodsource.com/features/pain-in-fish-weighing-the-evidence>

Robert W. Elwood, Pain and Suffering in Invertebrates?, ILAR Journal, Volume 52, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 175–184,

Rose J.D. Pain in fish: weighing the evidence.Anim. Sentience. 2016; 032: 1-3

Smith, J. A., Andrews, P. L. R., Hawkins, P., Louhimies, S., Ponte, G. & Dickel, L. Cephalopod research and EU Directive 2010/63/EU: Requirements, impacts and ethical review. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology447, 31–45 (2013).

Sneddon, L. U., Elwood, R. W., Adamo, S. and Leach, M. C. (2014). Defining and assessing animal pain. Anim. Behav. 97, 201-212.

Solvi C, Baciadonna L, Chittka L. Unexpected rewards induce dopamine-dependent positive emotion-like state changes in bumblebees. Science. 2016 Sep 30;353(6307):1529-1531

Sømme L.S. Sentience and pain in invertebrates.Rep. Nor. Sci. Comm. Food Safety. Nor. Univ. Life Sci. 2005

Treede, R.-D., Kenshalo, D. R., Gracely, R. H. & Jones, A. K. P. The cortical representation of pain. PAIN79, 105–111 (1999).

Tobin, D. M. and Bargmann, C. I. (2004). Invertebrate nociception: behaviors, neurons and molecules. J. Neurobiol. 61, 161-174.

July 16, 2021

Blogging SciComm Science Writing

How working as a PRF Virtual Correspondent made me a stronger SciComm writer

by sarahsynapses July 12, 2021

written by sarahsynapses

Some of my biggest takeaways from my time as a PRF Virtual Correspondent and advice I have for people wanting to become stronger science writers and communicators

Table Of Contents

Pain Research Forum (PRF) Virtual Correspondent Program Cycle 3
Content first, Perfection later
Writing better, faster.

Pain Research Forum (PRF) Virtual Correspondent Program Cycle 3

Recently, I was chosen to take part as one of the thirteen early-career pain researchers and clinicians in the third cycle of the PRF Virtual Correspondents Program.

When I entered the program, I was the first ever undergraduate that PRF took on, as traditionally the participants were all either PhD students, Post-Docs, or the like. I am so grateful that PRF took a chance on me and let me show that I could hold my own. Hopefully, I have now paved the way for other undergraduates who have an inclination for writing to step out of their comfort zone and apply for future cycles. The entire experience was truly invaluable for me not just as a science communicator and writer, but indirectly as a scientist as well.

PRF is going to be running the PRF Virtual Correspondent program for the foreseeable future. If you are interested in learning more or applying for future cycles, I highly encourage you to do so. The PRF executive editor, Neil Andrews is an incredibly kind person and for any questions you may have about the PRF Correspondents program, please contact him at neil@painresearchforum.org ✉

The PRF Virtual Correspondents Program itself runs for six weeks. Each week, every participant publishes a blog post, and creative freedom is given for the topics. Below, I’ll share some of the things I learned throughout the program.

Stop staring at that endless void of a blank page

Sometimes, having too much creative freedom can actually be more difficult than being given strict guidelines. With the world being your oyster, one can easily become overwhelmed with the abundance of choices, especially if the overarching topic is one you are passionate about. It’s better to just pick something and start writing then it is to waste hours staring at a blank screen hoping that the words will magically come to you. This is where I learned to become comfortable with getting words on paper, even if it’s just a few sentences then going in and polishing it later.

Content first, Perfection later

During my time as a PRF virtual Correspondent I had to quickly learn how to just pick a topic and stick to it instead of trying to find the perfect thing, because the “perfect thing” does not truly exist. Having to write a blog post every week for six weeks straight while simultaneously finishing up my undergraduate degree at Rutgers University, Camden and engaging in independent research along with weekly lab meetings for the Dr. Nathan Fried’s Neuroscience of Chronic Pain Lab was one of the best things to have happened to me in terms of growing as a scientist and communicator. It forced me to stop second guessing myself and to be confident in what I was writing.

So you want to become better and more confident at writing, whether it be for science journalism or personal blogging. If you are anything like me, you are probably thinking something along the lines of “Okay great, I need to practice writing…. but what and how exactly am I supposed to even practice, when I do not even know where to start?” If you are trying to become a stronger, faster writer, then I highly encourage you to try the following exercise.

Adjusting the writing/creative content exercise to your skill and comfort level: It is important to challenge yourself without overwhelming yourself, which can be a very fine line.

For complete beginners at content production and writing:

If you have never written or created content before, I suggest doing this exercise for four weeks, commit to writing one article/ blog post or creating one piece of content a week. This way, you lesson the chance of feeling overwhelmed

For intermediate writers and content creators:

I suggest writing one article/ blog post or creating one piece of content a week. doing this exercise for six weeks

For expert writers and content creators:

Try sticking to this exercise for six weeks as well, but with the goal of bumping it up to writing two blogs / articles or making two creative content pieces each week.

Something I used to struggle with was feeling a self-imposed pressure for everything I wrote to be clean and polished on the first try. This perfectionism is nothing but harmful for creativity and it completely blocks the natural flow during the idea generation process. Different techniques work for different people, so it is not a one size fits all kind of deal. Try experimenting with different content creation techniques until you find one that fits the way your unique mind works.

Learn to become comfortable with getting words on paper, even if it’s just a few scribbled thoughts or sentences.

When you have all your thoughts pulled from your mind and written on to the page, THEN you can start polishing it.

Here are some methods that have worked for me during the drafting process:

**Writing better, faster.**

Prior to starting, pick a topic that you are interested in or passionate about. It can be anything, just make sure it is something you will enjoy deep diving in to.

For Writer’s block- Word and Phrase Association: Mind Mapping
- Grab a pen and piece of scratch paper, or open up a new document
- First write down the overarching topic you are trying to write or create content about.
- Underneath that, quickly jot down any word or phrase that pops up in your mind that relates to that topic- while doing this, it is important to not try to make this refined, this is simply a way to get yourself to start writing
- Every time you run out of ideas, take the last word or phrase that you wrote down, and start the process over using it as your “new” topic until you get to the bottom of the page or are ready to move on to choosing more specifically what to write about

Let’s say I am trying to write about Neuroscience, a very simple word association list could look something like this:

Neuroscience
Brain
- Mind
Science
- Research
- Lab
- Discovery
Subfields of Neuroscience
Cognitive
Behavioral
Clinical
Cellular
Nervous System
- Sympathetic
- Parasympathetic
Neuron
Neurotransmitter

Here are some examples of mindmaps I have created in the past for helping myself come up with writing ideas:

Example of a mindmap with the topic being neuroscience

Example of a mindmap with the topic being Chronic Pain

Now that you have some ideas of things you can write about, write an outline of everything you want your article to include.

Content Organization Tip: When I am juggling a lot of concepts for one piece, I have found writing out all of the core concepts I plan on including on separate flash cards. Then, lay out the flash cards in the order you want the information to go in. This helps check if you are writing in a logical flow, and the visual aspect to it makes complex concepts not seem to abstract. I have used this for a variety of applications such as writing scripts for presentations and outlines for research papers.

Finally, you can start to fill in the outline you created for yourself. I tend to jump around the page when writing as opposed to trying to force myself to write from start to finish. If you start hitting a wall, walk away from it and come back later when you have given yourself time to unwind a bit. Don’t feel like you have to come out with award-winning, awe-inspiring work right off the bat or every single time- because that is setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. Instead, focus on just finishing something and celebrate the fact that every time you write and create, you are becoming a stronger writer and creator.

I will be sharing more tips for writing, content creation and science communication in the near future, so stay tuned for more!

July 12, 2021

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sarahsynapses

TRP: What it means

TRP channel classification

Five Group 1 Subfamilies

Two Group 2 TRP Subfamilies

An eighth subfamily, TRPY

TRP channel functions

The Importance of TRP channels

TRP channels and nociception

TRP channel in Drosophila (fruit flies)

Sources

Chronically Uninsured

Chronically A Patient

Chronically Denied

Chronically in Pain

Nociception is to Pain as Fuel is to Fire

Nociception ≠ Pain

The fire triangle

Requirements for the Fire

The “Pain Triangle”

Defining Nociception

A Simplified Definition

A More In-Depth Definition

How Is Nociception Detected?

Nociceptive Pain Pathway Steps

When does nociception occur?

Different types of nociceptors

Vertebrate nociception

Nociceptor classes

Why we need nociception

Sources

My Journey with Pain

Great, You Graduated! Now Say Goodbye To Your Health Insurance

How my Pain Has Shaped Who I Am

Imposter Syndrome

You Belong in Science

Be Proactive

Succeeding as a Scholar in Pain

Practice excellent time management

Have multiple “pain kits” for yourself

Plan and organize instead of procrastinate and stress

Communicate With Your Professors

Keep paper trails now incase of gaslighting later.

Knowing When to Rest

To Disclose Or Not To Disclose …. That is the Question.

Encouraging & Supporting Scientists, Scholars, & Research Trainees With Chronic Pain

Print out Procedures and Protocols

Never make assumptions based on appearance

Think Before You Speak

Lead By Example (Practice What You Preach)

The Problem With Taking Attendance For Class

The Uncaring Professor

University “Accommodation” services… or just more barriers?

Further Resources

The Inspiration

The Process

The Meaning

Researching Chronic Pain:

What’s the problem?

Stop staring at that endless void of a blank page

Content first, Perfection later

Writing better, faster.

Scientist. Artist. Writer

**Writing better, faster.**