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Pain

Pain

Pain serves as a critical warning signal that alerts the body to potential or actual harm. When mechanical pressure on the skin is intense, such as from a sharp pinch, the sensation transitions from touch to pain. Similarly, extreme temperatures, like a hot pot handle, convert the sensation of heat into pain. Pain can also result from overstimulation of other senses, such as blinding light, loud noise, or the intense heat from habañero peppers. This ability to sense pain is essential for...

Nociception

Nociception

Nociception—the ability to feel pain—is essential for an organism’s survival and overall well-being. Noxious stimuli such as piercing pain from a sharp object, heat from an open flame, or contact with corrosive chemicals are first detected by sensory receptors, called nociceptors, located on nerve endings. Nociceptors express ion channels that convert noxious stimuli into electrical signals. When these signals reach the brain via sensory neurons, they are perceived as pain.

Somatosensation

Somatosensation

The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.

Analgesia and Pain Management

Analgesia and Pain Management

Pain is critical to various clinical pathologies, provoking an urgent need for effective management. Pain, whether acute or chronic, is a complex neurochemical process. Its alleviation depends on the type, with nonopioid analgesics effective for mild to moderate pain, such as musculoskeletal or inflammatory pain, while neuropathic pain responds best to anticonvulsants, tricyclic antidepressants, or serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. For severe acute or chronic pain, opioids may be...

Factors Affecting Perception

Factors Affecting Perception

Perception is influenced by perceptual set, context, motivation, and emotion. Perceptual set, or perceptual expectancy, refers to the tendency to perceive things in a particular way, influenced by previous experiences and expectations. This phenomenon affects the interpretation of stimuli, creating a set of mental tendencies and assumptions that impact sensory perceptions of sound, taste, touch, and sight.
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...

Thermosensation

Thermosensation

Peripheral thermosensation is the perception of external temperature. A change in temperature (on the surface of the skin and other tissues) is detected by a family of temperature-sensitive ion channels called Transient Receptor Potential, or TRP, receptors. These receptors are located on free nerve endings. Those detecting cold temperatures are closer to the surface of the skin than the nerve endings detecting warmth. These thermoTRP channels, while temperature selective, have relatively...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 26, 2025

Psychophysically-anchored, Robust Thresholding in Studying Pain-related Lateralization of Oscillatory Prestimulus Activity

Psychophysically-anchored, Robust Thresholding in Studying Pain-related Lateralization of Oscillatory Prestimulus Activity

Published on: January 21, 2017

Brain Asymmetry in Pain Affective Modulation.

Thaise Graziele L de O Toutain¹, Guzmán Alba², José Garcia Vivas Miranda³

¹Postgraduate Program in Interactive Processes of Organs and Systems, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.

Pain Medicine (Malden, Mass.)

|August 3, 2021

Summary

Painful stimuli alter brain networks, increasing left-hemisphere connectivity and homophily. Emotions modulate this pain response, particularly in women, highlighting the brain

Keywords:

Affective Modulation of Pain Brain Asymmetry Brain Functional Network Emotion Pain Time-Varying Graphs

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Last Updated: Oct 26, 2025

Psychophysically-anchored, Robust Thresholding in Studying Pain-related Lateralization of Oscillatory Prestimulus Activity

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Published on: January 21, 2017

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Published on: October 3, 2020

Author Spotlight: Quantifying Pain Experience – An Illustrative Approach Using the Pain Body Diagram

Author Spotlight: Quantifying Pain Experience – An Illustrative Approach Using the Pain Body Diagram

Published on: July 7, 2023

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Brain Network Analysis
Affective Science

Background:

Understanding how the brain processes emotions and pain is crucial for mental and physical health.
Dynamic brain network alterations are implicated in affective states and pain perception.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the dynamic brain networks involved in the affective modulation of image perception under painful stimulation.
To characterize how pain influences brain network connectivity and symmetry.

Main Methods:

Utilized 64-channel electroencephalography (EEG) to record brain activity in 40 healthy volunteers.
Employed motif synchronization to construct and analyze brain functional networks.
Differentiated responses to pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral image stimuli during painful stimulation.

Main Results:

Painful stimulation increased cerebral connectivity and broke connection symmetry in the left hemisphere.
Both sexes exhibited homophilic (intrahemispheric) connections, with women showing greater homophily than men.
Pain modulated brain activity, with left hemisphere homophily increasing under pain, and emotions influencing pain perception.

Conclusions:

Pain and emotional states significantly alter brain activity and network characteristics.
The left brain hemisphere appears central to pain processing, exhibiting increased connectivity and homophily during painful experiences.
Emotions dynamically modulate brain activity in response to pain, suggesting complex interactions between affective and somatosensory systems.