title: The neurobiology of pain perception in normal and persistent pain.
abstract: Pain is a significant national burden in terms of patient suffering, expenditure and lost productivity. Understanding pain is fundamental to improving evaluation, treatment and innovation in the management of acute and persistent pain syndromes. Pain perception begins in the periphery, and then ascends in several tracts, relaying at different levels. Pain signals arrive in the thalamus and midbrain structures which form the pain neuromatrix, a constantly shifting set of networks and connections that determine conscious perception. Several cortical regions become active simultaneously during pain perception; activity in the cortical pain matrix evolves over time to produce a complex pain perception network. Dysfunction at any level has the potential to produce unregulated, persistent pain.
authors.affiliation: Summa Health System, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 75 Arch St Ste 102, Akron, OH 44304, USA.
authors.forename: Bradford W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Fenton
authors.affiliation: Women's Health Fellow, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Desk A10, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
authors.forename: Elim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.affiliation: Summa Health System, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 75 Arch St Ste 102, Akron, OH 44304, USA.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zolton
mesh_terms: D000698:Analgesia / Q000379:methods; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D059225:Nociception / Q000502:physiology; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D058748:Pain Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D017933:Peripheral Nervous System / Q000502:physiology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000502:physiology; D059265:Visceral Pain / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: chronic pain; neuroscience; pain; pain perception