Pathophysiology of Pain Flashcards
what is pain?
an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience which is associated with tissue damage
is pain a stimulus ?
no
- pain is a perception of a stimulus
where does pain perception occur in the brain ?
somatosensory cortex
from the dorsal root the neurone cross over to the contralateral side before moving up the spinal cord ?
- where then does the neuron go after this to get to the thalamus ?
brain stem
mid brain
thalamus
what three areas can the neurone go after the thalamus to get a response ?
somatosensory
limbic system
cingulate cortex
where does gate control modulation from descending PAG come from?
Limbic system
what are the four steps of pain perception ?
- detection in the periphery
- processing and transmission in the spinal cord
- perception and response in the brain
- modulation in the descending tracts
what is nociception ?
detection of tissue damage by specialised transducers connected to A delta and C fibres
what are nociceptors ?
free nerve ending of A delta and C fibres
what stimulus is detected by nociceptors?
response to - thermal - chemical - mechanical noxious stimulus
describe the path of the 1st order neurones ?
start at the skin and move into the dorsal horn cross over to the contralateral side and synapse at the thalamus
what are the 4 types of primary afferent fibres ?
A alpha
A beta
A delta
C fibres
which fibres are most myelinated ?
A alpha
A beta
which primary afferent fibre is unmeylinated ?
C fibres
what neurons are used for touch ?
A alpha
A beta
what fibre is used for fast pain?
A delta
what fibres are used for slow fibres ?
C fibres
is grey matter on the inside or outside ?
inside
what does PAG stand for?
Periaqeductal grey
where abouts is the Periaqeductal grey in the mid brain?
lateral to the cerebral aqueduct
does the PAG usually increase or decrease the nociceptor signal?
usually decreases as the stimulus is determined to not be noxious
what neurotransmitter is released from the PAG system ?
noradrenergic
what area is part of descending control of pain?
PAG
what is hyperalgesia ?
Increased perception of pain of non-noxious stimuli as noxious stimuli
- the threshold for pain perception is reduced so non-noxious stimulus are painful
- exaggerated response