Pain Mechanisms: Recent Research *

Abstract

Recent research on pain mechanisms is reviewed. New methods of measuring pain in animals and man have permitted quantitative studies of (1) the properties of stimulation of analgesia-producing areas in the brain, and (2) the effects of brief, intense transcutaneous electrical stimulation on chronic clinical pain. It has been found that the brain areas involved in stimulation-produced analgesia are somatotopically organized, involve catecholamine systems as well as serotonin, and have differential effects on transient and chronic pains. The analgesia-produced stimulation of the septum, moreover, provides an avenue for the study of prolonged neural activity related to pain. Studies have also shown that transcutaneous electrical stimulation produces substantial relief of several forms of pathological pain. There is evidence that this procedure is comparable to acupuncture stimulation, and both may be subserved by the same underlying mechanisms.

Keywords

Pain pain measurement transcutaneous electrical stimulation acupuncture

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