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As common as chronic pain is, how the brain processes pain remains something of a mystery. Neurobiologist Prasad Shirvalkar devised a way to objectively measure chronic pain by surgically implanting electrodes in the brains of four patients with post-stroke pain and phantom limb pain. His team’s findings offer the “first direct evidence that chronic pain involves information-processing areas of the brain distinct from those involved in acute pain,” he writes
in a crisp summary of a study published this week. The work could lead to better diagnosis of chronic pain conditions and potential treatments, such as deep brain stimulation.
Six African presidents – from South Africa, Egypt, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia – are set to embark, possibly next month, on a mission to help end the Russia-Ukraine war. Africa has an interest in this war because of its disastrous economic impact on the continent. Gilbert M. Khadiagala clears misconceptions about the mission, and sets out what the “African Six” can reasonably achieve.
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Prasad Shirvalkar, University of California, San Francisco
Pain has long been subjectively measured, leading to frustrations for patients and doctors alike. Identifying neural biomarkers of pain could improve diagnosis and lead to better treatments of chronic pain conditions.
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Gilbert M. Khadiagala, University of the Witwatersrand
If the African delegation could convince the belligerents to find a peaceful solution, they will make a critical contribution to the climate for mediation.
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Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham
China’s is building a transport and trade infrastructure in central Asia.
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Gavin E L Hall, University of Strathclyde
Early reports suggest pro-Kyiv and anti-Putin partisans have launched significant attacks on Russian soil.
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Sukla Chatterjee, University of Aberdeen
Judges called it a profound novel that asks the contemporary question: what happens to us when our memories disappear?
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Camilla Nelson, University of Notre Dame Australia
Martin Amis’s writing style was instantly recognisable: caustic and savagely funny with a sense of pathos. His death at 73 marks the end of an era.
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Carmel OShannessy, Australian National University; Jane Simpson, Australian National University; Otto Sims Jungarrayi, Indigenous Knowledge
The Warlpiri Dictionary has been 60 years in the making – and it’s shortlisted for the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards, a rarity for a dictionary.
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Sarah Watts, University of Stirling
Why we need to pay more attention to these minute flowers and how they survive in some of the harshest places in the world.
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Keith Gottschalk, University of the Western Cape
The book shows how parts of South Africa now fester with organised crime.
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Gregory Dale, The University of Queensland
Disgraced Australian entertainer and artist Rolf Harris has died at the age of 93.
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Dale Tweedie, Macquarie University
Elon Musk says wanting to work from home is unethical when not all workers can do it. Here’s why this argument is wrong.
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