Fig. 3 Fitness consequences of persistent nociceptor hyperexcitability
Crook Lab PI Robyn Crook coauthored a new review article in Trends In Neurosciences, titled “Persistent nociceptor hyperactivity as a painful evolutionary adaptation” discussing the evolution and selection of neural mechanisms of long-lasting injury-induced changes to behavior. In this paper, which arose from a panel discussion at the Gulf Coast Pain Consortium in 2021, a group of prominent pain scientists describe new findings on the way in which nociceptor hyper-excitability may have provided selective advantage in wide-ranging species over the course of evolution, leading to a pre-disposition toward chronic pain in humans. We hope this comprehensive review article will add to the growing body of literature that considers some cases of long-lasting and chronic pain as not necessarily evidence of disease states, but instead as normal, adaptive functions of the nervous system.