Physiology of Pain (Molliver)

Question 1

What is the distinction of nociception and pain? Describe the Transduction and transmission of pain and the 4 steps of it.

Answer 1

Nociception is the sensory detection and transmission occurring until pain is conscious awareness. Pain is the perception.

Question 2

4 aspects of pain perception?

Answer 2

Question 3

Definition of pain and nociception?

Answer 3

Don’t actually need pain to happen

Question 4

Types of pain? 2 main types, + an example

Answer 4

Question 5

How is chronic pain treated? How is it possibly caused?

Answer 5

Prolonged changes in nociceptive surfaced, causing lasting changes in PNS and CNS. Treat symptomatically.

Question 6

What are three indications that pain is psychogenic?

Answer 6

Question 7

Describe the 4 types of pain: Origin, Defined as, and examples

Answer 7

Question 8

Three components of the PNS? What type of neurotransmitter and what do they perform?

Answer 8

Question 9

What is the Trigeminal Ganlgion? What are the three innervations?

Answer 9

It contains the sensory cell bodies of the 3 branches of the trigeminal nerve.

Question 10

What is a peripheral sensory neuron? (Pseudo-unipolar)

Answer 10

Direct input and output, with dorsal root ganglion.

Question 11

Describe the DRG pathway with the spinal cord; including ventral and dorsal horns.

Answer 11

Question 12

How does size affect conduction?

Answer 12

Question 13

Where are nociceptors located in the skin? Why?

Answer 13

None in the brain because there is no sensory information

Question 14

What is a receptive field and how does this relate to dermatomes?

Answer 14

Each sensory neuron innervates a particular tissue in the periphery.
This is the receptive field
The overlapping sensory neurons and DRG comprise a specific dermatome of the skin.

Question 15

If a bundle of DRGs that go to a single segment of the spinal cord relate to their co-relation as neighbors in a single dermatome, why is a sciatic nerve for example, not follow this pattern?

Answer 15

Question 16

What horn is nociceptive information contained?

Answer 16

Dorsal horn! That is sensation.

Question 17

What is Biphasic pain; 1st pain and 2nd pain? And what are the afferent nociceptors responsible.

Answer 17

Unmylinated C fibers, (fire very quickly but only 1-2 seconds)

A delta: lightly milinated (15 to 30 meters per second, but imaging stubbing your toe.. only 1 meter away)

That’s why it takes a few seconds to feel pain.

Question 18

Explain sensitization to repeated stimulation in free nerve endings

Answer 18

Example pebble in your shoe hurts after awhile

Question 19

Describe pain modality between pricking, burning, visceral and relate them to nociceptor type.

Answer 19

Question 20

What is an adequate stimulus?

Answer 20

Stimulus that trumps others. You can have multiple stimuli (mechanical, thermal, chemical) but one will always trump.

Question 21

What is referred pain?

Answer 21

Pain perceived in another location, especially if strong pain response travels across dorsal horn somewhere else

Question 22

What is adequate stimulus?

Answer 22

Question 23

Three major molecular transducers for signal transduction in neurons

Answer 23

Question 24

Describe ion channels? Directly cause? speed?

Answer 24

Question 25

GCPRS?

Answer 25

Question 26

Describe three major kinds of GPCRs.

Answer 26

Question 27

Why do we get the itch with pre-workout, what does it relate to in class?

Answer 27

Activation of C-fibers! which lead to different kinds of itching.

Beta Alanine is an agonist to this.

Question 28

What are TRP’s?

Answer 28

Transient receptor potential channels are a group of ion channels located mostly on the plasma membrane of numerous animal cell types. TRP ion channels convert energy into action potentials in somatosensory nociceptors.