Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Topic · Physiology

Pain Mechanisms and Treatments

Pain Mechanisms and Treatments is a research topic within Physiology. Science Explorer counts 55k research works in it since 1950. 19.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment of neuropathic pain, focusing on central sensitization, neuroinflammation, glial activation, and the modulation of pain perception. It covers topics such as nociception, neuronal plasticity, chronic pain, hyperalgesia, and diabetic neuropathy.

  • Neuropathic Pain
  • Central Sensitization
  • Nociception
  • Neuroinflammation
  • Pain Modulation
  • Glial Activation
  • Neuronal Plasticity
  • Chronic Pain
  • Hyperalgesia
  • Diabetic Neuropathy
Research works
55k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
11k
per year above
Top-10% rate
19.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+9%
the tick is no change

This ranks research output and citation impact. It says nothing about the quality of diagnosis, treatment or care.

Which countries lead Pain Mechanisms and Treatments research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (1.7k and 1.4k works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 1.7k works
  2. 2 China 1.4k works
  3. 3 India 371 works
  4. 4 Japan 321 works
  5. 5 Germany 276 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 254 works
  7. 7 Brazil 218 works
  8. 8 Canada 197 works
  9. 9 Italy 192 works
  10. 10 Spain 172 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 33.0%China: 27.7%India: 7.3%Japan: 6.3%6 others listed: 25.7%33%largest
United States1,679 · 33.0%China1,412 · 27.7%India371 · 7.3%Japan321 · 6.3%6 others listed1,309 · 25.7%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Pain Mechanisms and Treatments research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Harvard University publishes the most Pain Mechanisms and Treatments research, followed by Aalborg University and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College.

Who are the leading researchers in Pain Mechanisms and Treatments?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Pain Mechanisms and Treatments include David J. Hunter.

  1. 1 David J. Hunter Australia 3.3k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Pain Mechanisms and Treatments research done?

The largest centres of Pain Mechanisms and Treatments research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Guangzhou (China) and Tokyo (Japan). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Aalborg.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 161 works
  2. 2 Shanghai China 132 works
  3. 3 Guangzhou China 95 works
  4. 4 Tokyo Japan 81 works
  5. 5 London United Kingdom 76 works
  6. 6 Boston United States 72 works
  7. 7 Seoul South Korea 72 works
  8. 8 Hangzhou China 68 works
  9. 9 New York United States 67 works
  10. 10 Wuhan China 66 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. AalborgDK · 45.3 works11×
← less than its size predictsmore →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Pain Mechanisms and Treatments than the world average.

See Pain Mechanisms and Treatments on the map

Where is the best place to study Pain Mechanisms and Treatments?

Among universities, judged by research, The University of Texas at Dallas, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University and Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 33.06%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →The University of Texas at Dallas: 15, 34.1%Zhejiang Chinese Medical University: 16, 36.9%Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine: 14, 45.8%Beijing University of Chinese Medicine: 13, 32.6%Nantong University: 15, 41.5%Aalborg University: 28, 22.5%Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine: 16, 27.6%Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine: 14, 29.1%Air Force Medical University: 12, 36.5%Xuzhou Medical College: 18, 24.0%Chengdu University o…Zhejiang Chinese Med…The University of Te…Beijing University o…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 The University of Texas at DallasUnited States 72.834.1%10.3×15 +1093.5%
2 Zhejiang Chinese Medical UniversityChina 68.836.9%9.3×16 +128.9%
3 Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 66.345.8%8.8×14
4 Beijing University of Chinese MedicineChina 62.032.6%10.6×13 +100.2%
5 Nantong UniversityChina 60.041.5%6.2×15 +78.7%
6 Aalborg UniversityDenmark 58.722.5%7.9×28 +2.8%
7 Nanjing University of Chinese MedicineChina 57.927.6%9.2×16 +72.4%
8 Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese MedicineChina 56.829.1%10.4×14 +32.6%
9 Air Force Medical UniversityChina 56.036.5%10.3×12 -38.9%
10 Xuzhou Medical CollegeChina 53.524.0%12.7×18 -30.6%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Pain Mechanisms and Treatments research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 9% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Pain Mechanisms and Treatments.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.