Guwahati, July 6 -- Laurenz Casser, University of Sheffield

At some point between conception and early childhood, pain makes its debut. But when exactly that happens remains one of medicine's most challenging questions.

Some have claimed that foetuses as young as twelve weeks can already be seen wincing in agony, while others have flat-out denied that even infants show any true signs of pain until long after birth.

New research from University College London offers fresh insights into this puzzle. By mapping the development of pain-processing networks in the brain - what researchers call the "pain connectome" - scientists have begun to trace exactly when and how our capacity for pain emerges. What they discovered challenges simple answ...