Pain in a balance: noxious events engage opposing processes that concurrently modulate nociceptive reactivity

Studies have shown that noxious cutaneous stimulation engages physiologically different antinociceptive systems to inhibit a spinal reflex, tail withdrawal from radiant heat. Two experiments are reported that examine the relationship between the inhibition of the tail-flick response and brain-mediated responses to nociception. The induction of a spinally mediated antinociception was accompanied by an increase in latency to vocalize to a noxious thermal stimulus, suggesting pain inhibition. Physiological manipulations that eliminated the inhibition of the tail-flick reflex restored vocalization to thermal stimulation and revealed a concurrent sensitization that generally heightened behavioral reactivity. The results suggest that net pain is regulated by 2 opposing processes, a selective inhibition of nociceptive signals within the spinal cord and a general sensitization that heightens stimulus processing.