Full Answer
What are the different theories of pain?
The specificity theory of pain was developed by Max Von Frey in 1895. The premise of the theory is that the brain has a completely separate area and system for perceiving pain, as it does for vision and hearing. Frey theorized that pain is transmitted from independent nerve endings in …
Is specificity theory enough to explain chronic pain?
Jan 01, 2013 · SPECIFICITY THEORY OF PAIN. The Specificity Theory refers to the presence of dedicated pathways for each somatosensory modality. The fundamental tenet of the Specificity Theory is that each modality has a specific receptor and associated sensory fiber (primary afferent) that is sensitive to one specific stimulus (Dubner et al. 1978). For instance, the model …
What is specificity theory?
Apr 13, 2013 · a theory that the pain mechanism, like hearing and vision, is a specific modality that has its own central and peripheral apparatus. Compare control theory of pain; pattern theory. SPECIFICITY THEORY: "In specificity theory, pain is produced by nerve impulses generated by injury that are transmitted to a pain centre of the brain." Cite this page: N., Sam M.S., …
What is Bell's specificity theory of pain?
Aug 02, 2021 · The biopsychosocial model provides the most comprehensive explanation behind the etiology of pain. This specific theory of pain hypothesizes that pain is the result of complex interactions between biological, psychological and sociological factors and any theory which fails to include all of these three constructs of pain, fails to provide an accurate explanation for why …
What is the theory of specificity?
a theory holding that the mechanism of pain is—like vision and hearing—a specific modality with its own central and peripheral apparatus. According to this theory, pain is produced by nerve impulses that are generated by an injury and are transmitted directly to a pain center in the brain.
What are the 3 pain control theories?
The pain theories that this activity will discuss below include the intensity theory, Cartesian dualism theory, specificity theory, pattern theory, gate control theory, neuromatrix model, and the biopsychosocial.Aug 2, 2021
Who developed the specificity theory of pain?
The Specificity Theory of Pain In the 16th century, the French philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes proposed one of the original theories of pain. His theory proposed that the intensity of pain is directly related to the amount of associated tissue injury.
What is an example of the gate control theory of pain?
Melzack and Wall suggested that this process explains why we tend to rub injuries after they happen. 2 When you bang your shin on a chair or table, for example, you might rub the injured spot. The increase in normal touch sensory information helps inhibit pain fiber activity, therefore reducing pain perception.Apr 1, 2022
What is endogenous opioid theory?
Endogenous opioids are enkephalins and endorphins that are primarily produced in the brain and have multiple actions throughout the body. Enkephalins and endorphins act at opioid receptors and their activity can be blocked by opioid antagonists.
What are the two types of pain?
Pain is most often classified by the kind of damage that causes it. The two main categories are pain caused by tissue damage, also called nociceptive pain, and pain caused by nerve damage, also called neuropathic pain. A third category is psychogenic pain, which is pain that is affected by psychological factors.Aug 23, 2021
Who discovered pain receptor?
Scottish anatomist Charles Bell proposed in 1811 that there exist different kinds of sensory receptor, each adapted to respond to only one stimulus type.
Who step ladder?
The three main principles of the WHO analgesic ladder are: “By the clock, by the mouth, by the ladder”. By the clock: To maintain freedom from pain, drugs should be given “by the clock” or “around the clock” rather than only “on demand” (i.e. PRN). This means they are given on a regularly scheduled basis.
What is gate control theory explain?
Briefly, the gate control theory proposes that a mechanism in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord acts as a 'gate' that can inhibit or facilitate transmission of nerve impulses from the periphery to the brain.
Which pain relief intervention is based on the gate control theory of pain?
The gate control theory is the basis for Buzzy®, a reusable device that provides natural injection pain relief.
What is the specificity theory of pain?
A: based on the Specificity Theory of Pain; each modality (touch and pain) is encoded in separate pathways. Touch and pain stimuli are encoded by specialized sense organs. Impulses for each modality are transmitted along distinct pathways, which project to touch and pain centers in the brain, respectively.
What is pain in psychology?
The current definition of pain, established by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) in 1986, defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of tissue damage, or both.”. This definition is the culmination of centuries ...
What did Magendie contribute to neurophysiology?
Magendie made substantial contributions to neurophysiology, including reiterating Bell's findings regarding the existence of both motor and sensory nerves and that these have separate paths to and from the spinal cord (the ventral and dorsal roots, respectively) ( Stahnisch 2009 ).
What theory did Sherrington endorse?
Since Sherrington's endorsement of the Specificity Theory of Pain , this became the dominant theory at the time. However, its popularity waned with the postulation of the Gate Control Theory of Pain (see below) by Melzack and Wall (1965).
What is the intensity of pain?
First, conceptualized in the fourth century BCE by Plato in his oeuvre Timaeus ( Plato 1998 ), the theory defines pain, not as a unique sensory experience but rather, as an emotion that occurs when a stimulus is stronger than usual. Centuries later, Erasmus Darwin ( Darwin and Darwin 1794) reiterated this concept in Zoonomia. One hundred years after Darwin, Wilhelm Erb also suggested that pain occurred in any sensory system when sufficient intensity was reached rather than being a stimulus modality in its own right [cited in Dallenbach (1939) ]. Arthur Goldscheider further advanced the Intensity Theory, based on an experiment performed by Bernhard Naunyn in 1859 [cited in Dallenbach (1939) ]. These experiments showed that repeated tactile stimulation (below the threshold for tactile perception) produced pain in patients with syphilis who had degenerating dorsal columns. When this stimulus was presented to patients 60–600 times/s, they rapidly developed what they described as unbearable pain. Naunyn reproduced these results in a series of experiments with different types of stimuli, including electrical stimuli. It was concluded that there must be some form of summation that occurs for the subthreshold stimuli to become unbearably painful. Goldscheider suggested a neurophysiological model to describe this summation effect: repeated subthreshold stimulation or suprathreshold hyperintensive stimulation could cause pain (see Fig. 1 B ). He suggested further that the increased sensory input would converge and summate in the gray matter of the spinal cord. This theory competed with the Specificity Theory of Pain, which was championed by von Frey. However, the theory lost support with Sherrington's evolutionary framework for the Specificity Theory and postulated the existence of sensory receptors that are specialized to respond to noxious stimuli, for which he coined the term “nociceptor”.
What does La Forge's figure of the boy and the flame suggest?
Although La Forge's figure of the boy and the flame suggests that there is a dedicated pain pathway, a closer read of the text indicates that Descartes believed that the pattern and rate of firing (intensity of tugging) of a fiber provided the adequate information to the brain about the stimulus intensity and quality.
What are the four somatosensory modalities?
von Frey indicated that there were four somatosensory modalities: cold, heat, pain, and touch and that all of the other skin senses were derivatives of these four modalities. To test this idea, he developed his now well-known “von Frey hairs” (termed an aesthesiometer), which consisted of a hair—usually from a human, but sometimes he used a horsehair or a hog bristle—attached to a wooden stick ( Perl 1996 ). By measuring the hair's diameter, length, and precise maximal weight that it could support without breaking off of the stick (maximal tension), it was possible to measure the force applied to a very specific spot. Today, von Frey hairs are made of fine nylon filaments of varying thicknesses (and hence, stiffness to deliver different forces and pressures upon bending). With the use of these hairs, he could carefully determine the pressure required to elicit a sensation at each of the skin spots identified by Blix and Goldscheider. Furthermore, his experimental setup allowed him to determine which spots responded to innocuous pressure and which ones responded to noxious pressure. von Frey demonstrated that there were distinct spots for innocuous pressure and for noxious pressure. He presented a model of the skin that comprised a “mosaic of distinct tactile, cold, warm, and pain spots distributed across the skin with distinctive regional variation” ( Perl and Kruger 1996 ). von Frey related the distribution of the pressure points to the distribution of Meissner's corpuscles, whereas pain points were related to the distribution of free nerve endings in the skin. Despite these remarkable findings, the Specificity Theory made a number of assumptions about the anatomical, physiological, and psychological bases of somesthesis and pain. For instance, when von Frey postulated the theory, pain receptors had yet to be identified nor were the peripheral pathways and brain centers specific to pain sensation established, as well as other factors [for a review, see Dallenbach (1939) and Rey (1995) ].
What is pain in psychology?
Pain is the result of complex interactions between biological, psychological, and sociological factors that individuals experience, with no two individual’s experiences being the same. It makes sense that an individual’s treatment approach should align with what it is treating.
Who came up with the pain theory?
One of the first alternative scientific pain theories was bravely introduced in 1644 by the French philosopher Renee Descartes (1596-1650). This theory has the name in current literature as the Cartesian dualism theory of pain.[10] The dualism theory of pain hypothesized that pain was a mutually exclusive phenomenon.
What is the function of the substantia gelatinosa of the spinal cord?
The substantia gelatinosa of the spinal cord's dorsal horn serves to modulate the signals that get through, acting similar to a “gate” for information traveling to the brain.[19] The sensation of pain that an individual feels is the result of the complex interaction among these three components of the spinal cord.
Why is pain important?
An individual’s capacity to feel pain is an essential component of the body’s ability to heal. Pain is the body’s way of telling us there is an injury, and we need to do something about it to ensure that healing occurs.
What are the components of the neuromatrix?
The four components are the “body-self neuromatrix, the cyclic processing, and synthesis of signals, the sentinel neural hub, and the activation of the neuromatrix.”.
What are the last two components of pain?
The last two components of pain that merit consideration are suffering and pain behaviors . The thinking is that suffering is an individual’s emotional response to the nociceptive signals and that pain behaviors are the actions that people carry out in response to the experience of pain.
What is the difference between pain and nociceptive?
Nociception is the signal that is sent to the brain from the periphery to alert the body that there is some degree of injury or tissue damage. Pain, on the other hand, is the subjective experience that occurs after the brain has processed the nociceptive input.
What is specificity theory?
Specificity theory is one of the first modern theories for pain. It holds that specific pain receptors transmit signals to a "pain center" in the brain that produces the perception of pain[5]Von Frey (1895) argued that the body has a separate sensory system for perceiving pain—just as it does for hearing and vision.
When was pain first defined?
First, conceptualized in the fourth century BCE by Plato in his oeuvre Timaeus (Plato 1998), the theory defines pain, not as a unique sensory experience but rather, as an emotion that occurs when a stimulus is stronger than usual[4].
What is the activity of peripheral fibers?
The amount of activity in other peripheral fibers—that is, those fibers that carry information about harmless stimuli or mild irritation, such as touching, rubbing, or lightly scratching the skin.
What is the approach of a physiotherapist?
A physiotherapist's approach to pain will often depend on their knowledge and their client's perception of pain and it's causes.[2] Several theoretical frameworks have been proposed to explain the physiological basis of pain, although none yet completely accounts for all aspects of pain perception.
Why do brain impulses influence the gating mechanism?
The idea that brain impulses influence the gating mechanism helps to explain why people who are hypnotized or distracted by competing environmental stimuli may not notice the pain of an injury.
What was the first sensation of pain?
Strong concluded that pain is the sensation: The first sensation was the experience of heat and then came the sensation of pain.
When referring to evidence in academic writing, should you always try to reference the primary source?
When refering to evidence in academic writing, you should always try to reference the primary (original) source . That is usually the journal article where the information was first stated. In most cases Physiopedia articles are a secondary source and so should not be used as references. Physiopedia articles are best used to find ...
Who was the first person to explain the specificity of pain?
Moritz Schiff was first to definitively formulate the specificity theory of pain when, in 1858, he demonstrated that touch and pain sensations traveled to the brain along separate spinal cord pathways.
Which theory of pain is not a unique sensory modality?
Intensive theory . In the first volume of his 1794 Zoonomia; or the Laws of Organic Life, Erasmus Darwin supported the idea advanced in Plato's Timaeus, that pain is not a unique sensory modality, but an emotional state produced by stronger than normal stimuli such as intense light, pressure or temperature.
What is the gate control of pain?
The authors proposed that both thin (pain) and large diameter (touch, pressure, vibration) nerve fibers carry information from the site of injury to two destinations in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord: transmission cells that carry the pain signal up to the brain, and inhibitory interneurons that impede transmission cell activity. Activity in both thin and large diameter fibers excites transmission cells. Thin fiber activity impedes the inhibitory cells (tending to allow the transmission cell to fire) and large diameter fiber activity excites the inhibitory cells (tending to inhibit transmission cell activity). So, the more large fiber (touch, pressure, vibration) activity relative to thin fiber activity at the inhibitory cell, the less pain is felt. The authors had drawn a neural "circuit diagram" to explain why we rub a smack. They pictured not only a signal traveling from the site of injury to the inhibitory and transmission cells and up the spinal cord to the brain, but also a signal traveling from the site of injury directly up the cord to the brain (bypassing the inhibitory and transmission cells) where, depending on the state of the brain, it may trigger a signal back down the spinal cord to modulate inhibitory cell activity (and so pain intensity). The theory offered a physiological explanation for the previously observed effect of psychology on pain perception.
How does fMRI help with pain perception?
The use of fMRI to study brain activity confirms the link between visual perception and pain perception. It has been found that the brain regions that convey the perception of pain are the same regions that encode the size of visual inputs.
What was the pain of the Renaissance?
Even just prior to the scientific Renaissance in Europe, pain was not well understood and it was theorized that pain existed outside of the body, perhaps as a punishment from God, with the only management treatment being prayer.
What is Descartes' pain pathway?
Descartes' pain pathway: "Particles of heat" (A) activate a spot of skin (B) attached by a fine thread (cc) to a valve in the brain (de) where this activity opens the valve, allowing the animal spirits to flow from a cavity (F) into the muscles causing them to flinch from the stimulus, turn the head and eyes toward the affected body part , and move the hand and turn the body protectively.
How is pain shaped?
Additional research has shown that the experience of pain is shaped by a plethora of contextual factors, including vision. Researchers have found that when a subject views the area of their body that is being stimulated, the subject will report a lowered amount of perceived pain.
Introduction
Intensive Theory
- An Intensive (or Summation) Theory of Pain (now referred to as the Intensity Theory) has been postulated at several different times throughout history. First, conceptualized in the fourth century BCE by Plato in his oeuvre Timaeus (Plato 1998), the theory defines pain, not as a unique sensory experience but rather, as an emotion that occurs when a stimulus is stronger than usual. This th…
Specificity Theory
- Specificity theory is one of the first modern theories for pain. It holds that specific pain receptors transmit signals to a "pain center" in the brain that produces the perception of painVon Frey (1895) argued that the body has a separate sensory system for perceiving pain—just as it does for hearing and vision. This theory considers pain as an independent sensation with specialised peri…
Strong's Theory
- Strong investigated physical pain, particularly that felt through the skin. He isolated pain from displeasure by focusing on cutaneous pain, where the infliction of pain carried no immediate threat, and therefore the emotional response was removed. He proposed that pain was an experience based on both the noxious stimulus and the psychic reaction or displeasure provoke…
Pattern Theory
- In an attempt to overhaul theories of somaesthesis (including pain), J. P. Nafe postulated a “quantitative theory of feeling” (1929). This theory ignored findings of specialized nerve endings and many of the observations supporting the specificity and/or intensive theories of pain. The theory stated that any somaesthetic sensation occurred by a specific and particular pattern of n…
Central Summation Theory
- It proposed that the intense stimulation resulting from the nerve and tissue damage activates fibers that project to internuncial neuron pools within the spinal cord creating abnormal reverberating circuits with self-activating neurons. Prolonged abnormal activity bombards cells in the spinal cord, and information is projected to the brain for pain perception.
The Fourth Theory of Pain
- It stated that pain was composed of two components: the perception of pain and the reaction one has towards it. The reaction was described as a complex physiopsychological process involving cognition, past experience, culture and various psychological factors which influence pain perception.
Sensory Interaction Theory
- It describes two systems involving transmission of pain: fast and slow system. The later presumed to conduct somatic and visceral afferents whereas the former was considered to inhibit transmission of the small fibers.
Gate Control Theory
- Melzack has proposed a theory of pain that has stimulated considerable interest and debate and has certainly been a vast improvement on the early theories of pain. According to his theory, pain stimulation is carried by small, slow fibers that enter the dorsal horn of the spinal cord; then other cells transmit the impulses from the spinal cord up to the brain. These fibers are called T-cells. …