Functional neuroanatomy of pain

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Adv Anat Embryol Cell Biol. 2006;184:1-115.

Functional neuroanatomy of pain.

Usunoff KG, Popratiloff A, Schmitt O, Wree A.

Department of Anatomy and Histology, Medical University-Sofia,

Bulgaria.

Pain is an unpleasant but important biological signal for danger.

Nociception is necessary for survival and for maintaining the

integrity of the organism in a potentially hostile environment. Pain

is induced by noxious stimuli that act on a complex pain sensory

apparatus. However, chronic pain no longer affords a protective role,

but can become a ruining disease itself, termed " neuropathic pain " .

This contribution throws light on the complex machinery of pain

processing, from the perspective of the connections between key

structures that are necessary for a profound understanding of the

phenomenon of pain.