Columbia Neuroscientist Maps 15 Touch and Pain Pathways, Eyeing New Relief

1 articles · Updated · Quanta Magazine · Aug 6

Ishmail Abdus-Saboor said touch, pain and pleasure arise from distinct skin-to-brain circuits, and that his lab is now trying to link peripheral receptors to perception in the brain.
2026 still lacks any objective biomarker for pain, he said, forcing researchers to rely on behavior in animals and self-reports in patients; his group built rodent pain scales to quantify those responses.
Two key receptor families—TRPV1 for heat and Piezo channels for mechanical force—help explain how specialized neurons detect different sensations, while social-touch neurons appear to drive reward and stress relief.
His lab also studies naked mole rats, rodents that can live 30 to 40 years, resist many forms of pain and rely heavily on touch in highly social colonies.
Abdus-Saboor said the long-term goal is better pain treatment, potentially by targeting emotional perception of pain rather than eliminating protective sensation altogether.