PAIN IS A MAJOR HEALTH CARE PROBLEM AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON FOR PATIENTS TO SEEK MEDICAL HELP. PAIN SERVES A USEFUL WARNING FUNCTION, BUT FOR REASONS NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD, PAIN CAN PERSIST AND DEVELOP INTO A COMPLEX SYNDROME. PERSISTENT OR CHRONIC PAIN IS ASSOCIATED WITH NEGATIVE EMOTIONAL STATES SUCH AS ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION AND WITH COGNITIVE DEFICITS. PAIN AS A COMPLEX DISORDER IS STILL DIFFICULT TO TREAT BECAUSE UNDERLYING MECHANISMS ARE NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD.GINGER IS A WELL-KNOWN SPICE PLANT. GINGER CAN HAVE ANALGESIC AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS. IT HAS BEEN USED FOR A VARIETY OF PAIN-ASSOCIATED AILMENTS SUCH AS OSTEOARTHRITIS AND OPIATE WITHDRAWAL-INDUCED DISORDERS. HOWEVER, THE EFFECT OF GINGER IN NEUROPATHIC PAIN IS UNCLEAR. IN THIS STUDY, WE WOULD LIKE TO TEST THE EFFECTS OF GINGER ROOT EXTRACT SUPPLEMENTED INTO THE DIET ON PAIN BEHAVIORS OF RATS IN A NEUROPATHIC PAIN MODEL. TWO WEEKS AFTER INDUCTION OF THE PAIN MODEL, THE ANIMALS WILL BE ASSIGNED TO ONE OF FOUR GROUPS. THEY WILL RECEIVE NO OR 3 DIFFERENT DOSES OF GINGER ROOT EXTRACT FOR 5 WEEKS. ALL ANIMALS WILL BE TESTED IN BEHAVIORAL ASSAYS FOR DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF NEUROPATHIC PAIN. AT THE END OF THE EXPERIMENT, WE WILL COLLECT FECES FOR GUT MICROBIOME AND METABOLITES MARKERS AS WELL AS THE TISSUES FOR THE ANALYSIS OF NEURO-INFLAMMATORY MARKERS.