PSYC 365 Study Guide - Afferent Nerve Fiber, Periaqueductal Gray, Phantom Limb

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 365
• Professor: David Cox

Document Summary

Pain occurs before serious injury (touching hot stove) Sets limits on activity and enforce inactivity and rest. When contact with injurious stimuli, signals follow a route from: afferent (sensory) neurons cells that conduct impulses from a sense organ to the cns or from lowr to higher levels in spinal cord and brain, nociceptors. Afferent nerve endings that respond to pain: a-delta fibers. Afferent fibers that detect sharp, distinct pain. Afferent fibers that detect dull or aching pain. One limit is that it is unable to explain phantom limb pain. The experience of pain in an absent body part: central control trigger. Activates selective cognitive processes that influence the gate via descending fibers. Neuromatrix theory: an extension of gate control theory, but with greater emphasis placed on the brain"s role in pain perception, a genetically determined neuromatrix or network of brain neurons distributed throughout many areas of the brain.