Physiology of pain Flashcards
What is the definition of pain?
An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience, associated with actual tissue damage or described in terms of such damage
What are the 4 processes in the physiology of pain?
Transduction
Transmission
Modulation
Perception
What is transduction?
Translation of noxious stimulus into electrical activity at the peripheral nocicpeto
What is transmission?
Propagation of pain signal as nerve impulses through the nervous system
What is modulation?
Modification of pain transmission in the nervous system e.g. by inhibitory neurotransmitters like endogenous opioids
What is perception?
Conscious experience of pain. Causes physiological and behavioural responses
What is a nociceptor?
Specific primary sensory afferent neurones normally activated by intense noxious stimuli (e.g. mechanical, thermal or chemical)
First order neurones that relay info to second order neurones in CNS via chemical synaptic transmission
What neurotransmittors are involved in the nociceptive pathway?
Glutumate and pepties (substance P and neurokinin A)
Where is the cell body in the nociceptive pathway found?
Dorsal root ganglion
Where will you find second order neurones?
In the anterolateral system
They terminate in the thalamus
What is the spinothalamic tract?
Involved in pain perception (location, intensity)
What is the spinoreticular tract?
Involved in autonomic responses to pain, arousal, emotional respones and fear of pain
Where will the pain impulse go after the thalamus?
Sensory information is relayed (3rd order) to the primary sensory cortex
What kind of stimulus can activate a noiceptive receptor?
Mechanical
Thermal
Chemical
What are the different types of nocicpetors?
A-delta
C-fibres