Physiology - Pain and Thermosensation

Question 1

What are the three categories of pain and what one is not adaptive (maladpative)?

Answer 1

Nociceptive pain - immediate protective response

Inflammatory - assists in healing, can last days/weeks

Pathological - MALADAPTIVE - persists months/years - no physiological purpose

Question 2

Nociecptors can be split into two categories, one that is responsible for first and fast pain and the other that is responsible for slow pain.

Name both types and explain why one is faster than other?

Answer 2

A(greekletter)fibres

• myelinated
• fast response (stabbing and pricking sensations)

C-fibres

• unmyelinated
• slow response (burning, h throbbing, cramping)

Question 3

What ascending pathway is responsible for pain and thermosensation?

Answer 3

Spinothalamic