Dr. Sean Mackey - Dr. Sean Mackey is an associate professor of anesthesia and pain management at Stanford University.
He is currently researching the use of functional MRI's to map brain activity, and to teach patients to cognitively reduce their own pain.
Uncontrolled pain is one of the most common reasons for patients to seek medical care. Experts have begun to rethink pain as a disease rather than simply a symptom - one that fundamentally alters the central nervous system. This can lead to continued and worsening pain even after the original cause has healed. Dr. Sean Mackey presents new information on the use of brain-imaging tools to literally "see" where pain is processed, what happens when it goes bad, and how these tools may offer hope for the future- The Commonwealth Club of California