"Predictive Dynamics of Human Pain Perception"

Well, here is something that is interesting to me as a math minor.  Sometimes we wonder why do we have to take calculus as a part of our biology degree. Yet there is a publication I've found that incorporates the marvelous mathematics into some biology.  

To me, this interconnection between the different fields is the beauty of science: science is so vast that there is much exploring to be done.  Don't let the small factors or differences of fields interfere with your possible discoveries.  If you are not experienced in another field that your research intersects, collaborate with an expert in that field to continue the research.  This is another factor of the beauty of science: it brings unity amongst the scientists from different fields.  There are several publications I've seen that has professionals from different fields participating in the research of that publication.

Now, of course, this study is much catered to mathematical science rather than any biology, yet it is interesting. This study develops model predictions of pain perception.  These researchers had twelve participants for this study. The participants were administered with stimuli, and they had to tap this finger device that was recorded on the computer. Then, they also screened these participants for fMRI along with finger device to see the relationship of pain perception.  With the data, researchers were then able to analyze to develop models of pain sensory predictions through the use of differential equations. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3486880/pdf/pcbi.1002719.pdf


Of course, I am not fond of the idea of "survey" style research.  Yet the finger device and different circumstances for this particular research seems reasonably credible, considering the fact that researchers were only developing predictive models.  And, there are plenty more biology and math interactive publications to enjoy!