Olausson Lab

at CSAN

We aim for a mechanistic understanding of diseases that cause disturbances of the somatosensory system. We use a range of
methods which tap into various levels of the human nervous system, all the way from peripheral receptors in the skin to perception.

Our research is based on studies of healthy humans and patients with well-defined diseases of the touch and pain systems. We are studying how touch and pain are processed in the human nervous system from the skin to the brain in health and disease. Our research is focused on the functions of the slow, unmyelinated touch system as well as the ultrafast myelinated pain system. Our aims are to characterize peripheral transduction mechanisms, central nervous processing, and pathophysiological disturbances of the slow-touch and fast-pain systems. Our methods include functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), microneurography (in vivo electrophysiology), electromyography (EMG), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), laser-evoked potentials (LEPs), autonomic measures, psychophysics, and behavioral testing.
The overall aim is a mechanistic understanding of diseases that affects the perceptions of touch and pain.

Photo credit Thor Balkhed

Video about our research

To map the pathways of pain and help cure everything from chronic pain to headaches, Håkan Olausson's team at Linköping University measures various pain impulses. Håkan and his research group have discovered that pain signals travel much faster than previously thought and that pain fibers are present throughout the entire body.

HÃ¥kan Olausson is interviewed during a study.
See the video on Youtube.