Professional Documents
Culture Documents
of PAIN
Don Pierce
PAIN
‘Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional
experience associated with actual or potential
tissue damage, or described in terms of such
damage.-- Pain is always subjective. Each
individual learns the application of the word
through experience related to injury in early
life. It is unquestionably a sensation in a part
of the body but is also always unpleasant and
therefore also an emotional experience.’
PAIN’S VARIABLE FACE
PAIN’S VARIABLE FACE
neospinothalamic tract for acute pain to midbrain, -VPL thalmus postcentral gyrus
paleospinothalamic tract for dull and burning pain to the reticular formation, limbic system &
midbrain VM thalmus anterior cingulate gyrus
Cortical Representation
Cortical Representation
Midbrain structures
The peri-aqueductal grey matter (PAG)
deep layers of the superior colliculus
red nucleus
pre-tectal nuclei
nucleus of Darkschewitsch
interstitial nucleus of Cajal
intercolliculus nucleus,
nucleus cuneiformis
Edinger-Westphal nucleus
MODULATION
sites of descending modulation-
PAG, PVG synapse in rostroventral medulla
via reticulospinal tract - includes the 5-HT
producing raphae magnus to laminae I, II and V.
Cortex (parietal areas 1,2 &3) and diencephalon