Physiology VIII: Pain and Thermosensation

There are 3 types of pain:
❌: The normal response to noxious insult or injury of tissues such as skin, muscles, visceral organs, joints, tendons, or bones.
❌: The result of activation of the pain pathway by the release of a variety of mediators such as IL-1-alpha, IL-1-beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha.
❌: A disease state caused by damage to the nervous system or by its abnormal function

Types of Nociceptor:
❌ respond to 'fast pain' such as stabbing, pricking, etc
❌ respond to 'slow pain' such as burning, throbbing, cramping.

❌ Increased sensitivity to painful stimuli
❌ Pain caused by usually non-painful stimuli

Nociception and pain are two different things:
❌ is the sensory nervous system's response to noxious stimuli
❌ is the awareness of suffering

One can occur in absence of the other.

Major Nociceptive Tracts:
❌: Mainly projects fast fibre (A-delta-fibre) pain and is important in the localisation of painful stimuli
❌: Mainly projects slow fibre (C-fibre) pain and is important in the alertness and emotional responses to pain. Our fear of pain arises from this tract.