title: Psychophysiology of visceral pain in IBS and health.
abstract: The psychophysiology of visceral pain as it relates to gastrointestinal motility, visceral sensitivity, and putative mechanisms of the processing of visceral stimuli by the central and peripheral nervous systems are discussed. Peripheral mechanisms may include low-grade mucosal inflammation, and it is likely that central nervous mechanisms such as neuronal plasticity at the level of the spinal cord and attentional bias at the cortical level are relevant for the chronification of visceral pain. From a psychophysiological perspective, visceral pain therefore remains a complex symptom because behavioral variables, such as the way an individual deals with stress, may be as important for the etiology of visceral pain as, for example, a history of inflammation.
authors.affiliation: Complementary and Integrative Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Department of Internal Medicine, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Germany. f.musial@kliniken-essen-mitte.de
authors.forename: Frauke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Musial
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Häuser
authors.forename: Jost
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Langhorst
authors.forename: Gustav
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dobos
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Enck
mesh_terms: D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility / Q000502:physiology; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D014781:Viscera / Q000503:physiopathology*