Background: The rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) is a key brainstem structure that
conveys powerful descending influence of the central pain-modulating system on spinal …

Pain is a complex multidimensional experience encompassing sensory-discriminative,
affective-motivational and cognitive-emotional components mediated by different neural …

The ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) constitutes a major descending pain
modulatory system and is a crucial site for opioid-induced analgesia. A number of previous …

Pain is more than merely nociception and response, but rather it encompasses emotional,
behavioral and cognitive components that make up the pain experience. With the recent …

Uncontrollable, compared with controllable, painful stimulation can lead to increased pain
perception and activation in pain-processing brain regions, but it is currently unknown which …

Pyramidal neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a prefrontal region involved in
processing the affective components of pain, display hyperexcitability in chronic neuropathic …

Peripheral tissue injury/inflammation can alter the properties of somatic sensory pathways,
resulting in behavioral hypersensitivity and pathological and/or chronic pain, including …

Conscious perception of painful stimuli needs the contribution of an extensive cortico‐
subcortical network, and is completed in less than one second. While initial activities in …

Neurons in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) can provide top-down regulation of sensory-affective
experiences such as pain. Bottom-up modulation of sensory coding in the PFC, however …

Nociception provides a means of neural feedback that allows the central nervous system
(CNS) to detect and avoid noxious and potentially damaging stimuli in both active and …