[What does pain have to do with neuronal networks and the afferent matrix?]

Abstract

Harmful (noxious) stimuli and many diseases cause pain. The pain described can reflect the nociception, i.e., the coding of the noxious stimulus or the pathological process. In many cases, however, this is not the case, especially if the pain lasts for along time. For this reason, it is important to understand pain in a broader sense as an expression of brain activity that also expresses other experiences in addition to nociception. This article describes the brain network which, according to our current understanding, generates the subjective sensation of pain. In addition to the areas of the brain that encode noxious stimuli, neuronal circuits of the limbic system, which evaluate the stimuli affectively and emotionally and are involved in response selection, are becoming important. Taking into account the complex neuronal mechanisms of pain development can contribute to better diagnostics and therapy.