The Percept of Pain Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

The Percept of Pain Where does it come from?In class we have discussed the concept of pain, concluding that a conflict between what the brain anticipates occurring and what very occurs has the potential to cause the perception of pain. Furthermore, it was suggested that genetics might have a role in the experience of pain, particularly when applied to the discussion of phantom work up pain. However, I found these inferences a bit unsatisfying and walked away with more questions than answers. Where does chronic pain come into the picture? Why is a stimulus that is annoying for one person not for another? And the question that puzzled me the most how, from a neurobiological perspective, can an individual experience pain in her arm if she was born without one?Pain, a component of the somatosensory system, is defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage (1). The perception of pain serves as a defense system to maintain homeostasis, warning of injury that should be avoided and/or treated. Injured limbs actually inhibit voluntary movement to promote necessary better processed (2). So essential is the painful response that those individuals born with congenital pain insensitivity do not react to pain, often resulting in severe, eternal tissue damage, and even premature death.A crucial concept in the definition of pain is that it is indeed a perception, therefore involving the brains rumination and elaboration on corresponding input. This may be paralleled to another sensory perception, vision. Although the optic nerve head should cause a hole in an individuals... ...ally cynical about notions that argon not physiologically observable, I am surprisingly excited by the idea of a neuromatrix and look forward to rethinking my pervious understandings of the nervous systems workings. It may be interesting to see h ow the I-function is involved with this process and why pain treatments such as biofeedback have been known to produce positive results.ReferencesThis paper reflects the research and thoughts of a student at the time the paper was written for a course at Bryn Mawr College. Like other materials on Serendip, it is not intended to be of import but rather to help others further develop their own explorations. Web links were active as of the time the paper was posted but ar not updated. Contribute Thoughts Search Serendip for Other Papers Serendip Home Page http//serendip.brynmawr.edu/cgi-bin/comments