Abstract
This paper gives a brief review of the knowledge and research on pain. Later research emphasize the fact that the central nervous system as a whole and especially the brain itself plays a crucial role when it comes to understanding the mechanisms of pain perception and pain modulation. Clinical experience and empirical research on phantom limbs and phantom limb pain lay growing evidence on the assumption that the human brain have build in structures of a neural network which consists of loops that integrate the somatosensory talamus and cortex, the limbic system and the association cortex. This network which is in part genetically determined, is suggested to play a substantial role in integrating and modulating the pain experience. Research further indicate that our body perception is not a passive process merely reflecting bodily input. The pain experience and the feeling of pain quality is not primarily a result of sensory input, but rather generated by our brain together with other bodily experiences. This knowledge gives further support to health-professionals view of pain as a subjective and multidimensional phenomenon, where it is substantial to believe the patient when he says he is in pain. Standards of pain management should also be aware of the fact that «pain delivers pain». Therefore it is crucial to treat the pain before it becomes established in the central nervous system.