ReviewThe journal of pain2009
Central sensitization: a generator of pain hypersensitivity by central neural plasticity.
Review in The journal of pain, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 9 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 1,689 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Pain Experience in Individuals With Chronic Low Back Pain: a Cohort Study
Evaluation of Motor Unit Abnormalities After Experimentally Induced Sensitization Using Capsaicin: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Study
Molecular Pathways Involved in Knee Pain: an Observational Study
Feasibility and Effect of a Multidisciplinary Telematics Approach for Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain: a Randomized, Open-label, Controlled, Pilot Clinical Trial. Study Protocol
Central Sensitization in Familial Mediterranean Fever: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study
Can Chronic Post-surgical Pain be Reduced by Preserving Intercostobrachial Nerve During Axillary Lymph Node Dissection? : A Randomized Controlled Trial
Toward Personalized Treatment of Chronic Pain Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Paired With Deep Learning
The METRIC Study Protocol: an Explanatory Randomized Controlled Trial Investigating the Neurophysiological Mechanisms Underlying the Therapeutic Effects of Spinal Manipulative Therapy for Chronic Primary Low Back Pain
Intra-operative Magnesium Sulphate for Post-operative Pain in Patients Undergoing Total Abdominal Hysterectomy Under General Anesthesia
Who cites it
1,689 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 3,640 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on pain and function in patients with knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation · 2026Pooled it
- The association between posttraumatic stress disorder and migraine: A systematic review.Headache · 2026Pooled it
- The Effects of Lumbar Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness on Clinical, Biomechanical and Neuromuscular Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of superior laryngeal nerve block in neurogenic cough: A systematic review and meta-analysis.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Relationship Between Central Sensitization and Genetic Polymorphisms-A Case-Control Study in Fibromyalgia.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Trial
- Audio-visual stimulation therapy for chronic neuropathic pain: a sham-controlled randomized clinical trial.BMC neurology · 2026Trial
- The relationship between neck and body awareness, pain, and proprioception with central sensitization in patients with chronic nonspecific neck pain.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Trial
- A Randomized Controlled Trial of Intraoperative Ketamine for Acute Postsurgical Pain after Breast Cancer Surgery: The Moderating Effect of Baseline Temporal Summation of Pain.Anesthesiology · 2025Trial
- Pain on the stage: a historical-neurological analysis of Afife Jale, Türkiye's first Muslim actress.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2026Article
- Repetitive tooth-clenching triggers kynurenine pathway activation in masseter muscle of women with temporomandibular disorders myalgia.Pain reports · 2026Article
- Glial cells in neuropathic pain.Physiological reviews · 2026Review
- Gabapentinoids-duloxetine combination therapy for chronic pain: A mechanism oriented rational to bridge theoretical knowledge and real life setting.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026Review
- Microfragmented Adipose Tissue in Pain Management: Bridging Regenerative Biology and Clinical Therapeutics.Pain and therapy · 2026Review
- AMPA receptor, neuroimaging, and chronic pain.Journal of anesthesia · 2026Review
- Electroacupuncture Alleviates Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy via Multi-target Modulation: A Review from Mechanisms to Intervention.Chinese journal of integrative medicine · 2026Review
- Early high‑frequency spinal cord stimulation modulates the ROS/p38 MAPK/NF‑κB and CXCL10/CXCR3 pathways to alleviate neuropathic pain and promote spinal cord injury repair.International journal of molecular medicine · 2026Article
- Targeting Spinal Dorsal Horn Sensitisation in Chronic Pain: Mechanisms and Translational Strategies.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Review
- Common Mechanisms in Migraine, Migraine-Related Neck Pain, and Low Back Pain: Implications for Treatment.Pain and therapy · 2026Review
- Chronic joint pain drives sex-specific changes in hippocampal glutamatergic signaling and sleep.npj biomedical innovations · 2026Article
- Prolonged trigeminocardiac reflex following transvenous coil embolization for cavernous sinus dural arteriovenous fistula with brainstem edema: illustrative case.Journal of neurosurgery. Case lessons · 2026Article
1,629 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
unlabelledCentral sensitization represents an enhancement in the function of neurons and circuits in nociceptive pathways caused by increases in membrane excitability and synaptic efficacy as well as to reduced inhibition and is a manifestation of the remarkable plasticity of the somatosensory nervous system in response to activity, inflammation, and neural injury. The net effect of central sensitization is to recruit previously subthreshold synaptic inputs to nociceptive neurons, generating an increased or augmented action potential output: a state of facilitation, potentiation, augmentation, or amplification. Central sensitization is responsible for many of the temporal, spatial, and threshold changes in pain sensibility in acute and chronic clinical pain settings and exemplifies the fundamental contribution of the central nervous system to the generation of pain hypersensitivity. Because central sensitization results from changes in the properties of neurons in the central nervous system, the pain is no longer coupled, as acute nociceptive pain is, to the presence, intensity, or duration of noxious peripheral stimuli. Instead, central sensitization produces pain hypersensitivity by changing the sensory response elicited by normal inputs, including those that usually evoke innocuous sensations. PERSPECTIVE: In this article, we review the major triggers that initiate and maintain central sensitization in healthy individuals in response to nociceptor input and in patients with inflammatory and neuropathic pain, emphasizing the fundamental contribution and multiple mechanisms of synaptic plasticity caused by changes in the density, nature, and properties of ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.