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Related Concept Videos

Nociception01:44

Nociception

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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.
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Overview of Somatic Sensory Pathways01:29

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Somatic sensory or somatosensory pathways refer to the neural pathways that carry information related to touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and proprioception from the skin, muscles, tendons, and joints to the brain. These pathways involve several stages of processing and integration of sensory information.
The somatosensory system is divided into three main pathways: the dorsal (or posterior) column-medial lemniscus, spinothalamic (or anterolateral), and spinocerebellar pathways.
The dorsal...
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Major Somatic Sensory Pathways01:28

Major Somatic Sensory Pathways

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Sensory impulses related to touch, pressure, vibration, and proprioception from various body parts, such as the limbs, trunk, neck, and posterior head, travel to the cerebral cortex through the posterior column-medial lemniscus pathway. The pathway’s name derives from the two white-matter tracts that convey the impulses: the spinal cord's posterior column and the brainstem's medial lemniscus. First-order sensory neurons extend their axons into the spinal cord, forming the...
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Pain01:20

Pain

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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...
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Somatosensation01:33

Somatosensation

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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.
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Thermosensation01:43

Thermosensation

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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

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In Vivo Calcium Imaging of Neuronal Ensembles in Networks of Primary Sensory Neurons in Intact Dorsal Root Ganglia
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Principles of nociceptive coding in the anterior cingulate cortex.

Mario A Acuña1, Fernando Kasanetz1,2, Paolo De Luna1

  • 1Department of Physiology, University of Bern, Bern 3012, Switzerland.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|May 30, 2023
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Summary

Pain perception relies on brain activity patterns, not specific neurons. Chronic pain disrupts sensory processing, but analgesics can restore normal function.

Keywords:
anterior cingulate cortexin vivo calcium imagingneuropathic painnociceptionsensory representation

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Pain Research
  • Sensory Processing

Background:

  • Pain perception is a complex, multidimensional experience involving widespread brain activity.
  • Cortical mechanisms distinguishing nociception from other sensory stimuli are not fully understood.
  • The impact of chronic neuropathic pain on sensory processing requires further characterization.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate principles of nociceptive and sensory coding in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).
  • To determine how the cortex differentiates noxious stimuli from other sensory inputs.
  • To characterize the effects of chronic neuropathic pain on sensory processing and the efficacy of analgesic treatment.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized in vivo miniscope calcium imaging with cellular resolution in freely moving mice.
  • Recorded neural activity in the ACC during exposure to various sensory stimuli.
  • Assessed changes in sensory encoding following peripheral nerve injury and subsequent analgesic treatment.

Main Results:

  • Population activity, not individual neuron responses, distinguished noxious from non-noxious stimuli, refuting nociception-specific neurons.
  • Single-cell selectivity was dynamic, while population-level stimulus representation remained stable.
  • Chronic neuropathic pain impaired sensory encoding, causing exaggerated responses to innocuous stimuli and reduced pattern separation, which were reversed by analgesics.

Conclusions:

  • Cortical pain processing relies on distributed population activity rather than specialized nociception neurons.
  • Chronic neuropathic pain induces significant dysfunction in cortical sensory processing.
  • Analgesic treatments can restore normal sensory encoding in the cortex, offering insights into pain management.