Abstract |
Clinical and animal experimental evidences accumulated during the past four decades indicate an evolving change, championed by Patrick D. Wall, from the old concept of a specific pain pathway and hard-wired nervous system to a dynamic concept of plastic neural mechanisms underlying nociceptive processing like other sensory neural functions. These include: (1) the reciprocal sharing and interaction of various somatic sensory modalities between the ascending pathways; (2) the activation of spinal gating mechanisms through a dorsal column brainstem spinal loop; (3) the role of plastic changes in the nervous system in the production and maintenance of chronic pain; (4) the evidence showing that processing of nociception involves the activation of a diffuse network of transmitting fiber tracts and brain centers that are not exclusively devoted to pain; and (5) the consideration of chronic pain, at least in part, as a sign or reflection of a dysfunction in neuroimmune-endocrine regulations.
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Authors | Suhayl J Jabbur, Nayef E Saadé |
Journal | Pain
(Pain)
Vol. Suppl 6
Pg. S87-S92
(Aug 1999)
ISSN: 0304-3959 [Print] United States |
PMID | 10491976
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
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Topics |
- Animals
- Electrophysiology
- Humans
- Neural Pathways
(cytology, physiology)
- Neuronal Plasticity
(physiology)
- Neurons
(physiology)
- Pain
(pathology, physiopathology)
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