Pain Proccessing in the brain

Pain is a sensation felt by all. Whether it is due to an injury or illness, falling down or emotionally scarred inside, majority of humans feel pain. The somatic sensation pain is derived from nociceptors (Bear, Connors & Paradiso, 2007). Nociceptors are liberated unmyelinated nerve endings that acts as an indicator of injury or risk of injury to the body tissue (Bear, Connor & Paradiso, 2007). Selective activation of nociceptors can elicit the conscious occurrence of pain (Bear, Connors & Paradiso, 2007). The underlying questions remains, how is pain processed in the brain. Do we all process pain the same? What factors are responsible for contributing to the processing of pain?

Damage to human tissue that would generate pain can be caused by numerous stimuli. Some of the stimuli include but is not limited to, tough mechanical stimulation, excessiveness in temperature, oxygen dispossession, and contact with chemicals (Bear, Connors & Paradiso, 2007). All of the above factors have potential to cause tissue damage thus activating nociceptors (Bear, Connors & Paradiso, 2007). Activating of the nociceptors generate action potentials. At the location of the injury, the damaged cells cause a discharge of numerous substances that stimulates ion channels on nociceptor membranes to open (Bear, Connors & Paradiso, 2007). The opening of the nociceptor membranes generates a pain sensation.

The fact that the perception of pain varies is well recognized. Depending on the synchronized intensity of nonpainful sensory contribution and the behavioral perspective, the same intensity of nociceptor activity can generate additional or fewer pain (Bear, Connors & Paradiso, 2007). Pain induced by action in nociceptors can additionally...

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...ors & Paradiso, 2007). Studies propose numerous brain areas can be attributed to pain suppression (Bear, Connors & Paradiso, 2007). One particular area is a sector of neurons in the midbrain called periventicular and periaqueductal gray matter (Bear, Connors & Paradiso, 2007). In general, the PAG obtains contributions from an array of brain structures (Bear, Connors & Paradiso, 2007). Most of these structures are responsible for the transmission of signals correlated to emotional status (Bear, Connors & Paradiso, 2007). Neurons in the PAG bear the responsibility to transmit descending axons into a variety of midline areas of the medulla (Bear, Connors & Paradiso, 2007). In turn the medullary neurons task axons along to the dorsal horns of the spinal cord, in efforts to successfully depress the activity of nociceptive neurons (Bear, Connors & Paradiso, 2007).