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| Neuroscience
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Glenn J. Giesler, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Neuroscience
giesler@umn.edu
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 Somatic
sensory processing, pain.
Our laboratory's major interest is in determining the neural
mechanisms responsible for conveying information about painful stimuli
from the spinal cord to the brain. We have studied several pathways,
including the spinothalamic and postsynaptic dorsal column systems.
Recently we have concentrated on the large number of spinal cord neurons
that we have discovered project directly to the hypothalamus and limbic
system. Our working hypothesis is that these projections to areas
of the brain that are known to control emotion and mood are the neural
substrate for the suffering that is produced by chronic pain.
In our studies, we use several techniques. Physiologically, we examine
the responses of individual neurons that form these projections to
painful stimulation of the skin and viscera. In addition, we use a
number of anterograde and retrograde tracing techniques to examine
these projections and immunocytochemical techniques to determine the
neurotransmitters that may be involved. |
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Selected Publications
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Zhang X, Davidson S, Giesler GJ Jr.
Thermally identified subgroups of marginal zone neurons project to distinct regions of the ventral posterior lateral nucleus in rats.
J Neurosci. 2006 May 10;26(19):5215-23. |
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Zhang X, Giesler GJ Jr.
Response characterstics of spinothalamic tract neurons that project to the posterior thalamus in rats.
J Neurophysiol. 2005 May;93(5):2552-64. |
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Truong H, McGinnis L, Dindo L, Honda CN, Giesler GJ Jr.
Identification of dorsal root ganglion neurons that innervate the common bile duct of rats.
Exp Brain Res. 2004 Apr;155(4):477-84. Epub 2003 Dec 19. |
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Simone DA, Zhang X, Li J, Zhang JM, Honda CN, LaMotte
RH, Giesler GJ Jr.
Comparison of responses of primate spinothalamic tract neurons to
pruritic and algogenic stimuli.
J
Neurophysiol. 2004 Jan;91(1):213-22 |
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Truong H, McGinnis L, Dindo L, Honda CN, Giesler GJ
Jr.
Identification of dorsal root ganglion neurons that innervate the
common bile duct of rats.
Exp
Brain Res. 2003 Dec 19 (in press) |
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Willis WD Jr, Zhang X, Honda CN, Giesler GJ Jr
A critical review of the role of the proposed VMpo nucleus in pain.
J
Pain. 2002 Apr;3(2):79-94 |
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Zhang X, Gokin AP, Giesler GJ Jr.
Responses of spinohypothalamic tract neurons in the thoracic spinal
cord of rats to somatic stimuli and to graded distention of the bile
duct.
Somatosens
Mot Res 2002;19(1):5-17 |
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Willis WD Jr, Zhang X, Honda CN, Giesler GJ Jr.
Projections from the marginal zone and deep dorsal horn to the ventrobasal
nuclei of the primate thalamus.
Pain 2001 May;92(1-2):267-76 |
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Zhang X, Honda CN, Giesler GJ Jr.
Position of spinothalamic tract axons in upper cervical spinal cord
of monkeys.
J
Neurophysiol 2000 Sep;84(3):1180-5 |
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