Lecture 3 Flashcards
(137 cards)
What can influence pain?
Experience
Define pain
Protective mechanism triggered by nociceptors
What are the 3 types of pain receptors? What does each detect?
1) Mechanical nociceptors: cutting, crushing, pinching
2) Thermal nociceptors:
temperature, especially heat
3) Polymodal nociceptors:
Various stimuli, including chemicals from injured tissues
1) What sensitizes all nociceptors?
2) What causes these to be released? What does this do?
3) What inhibits these?
1) Prostaglandins
2) Tissue damage releases prostaglandins which enhances pain by lowering activation threshold of those receptors (among other causes)
3) NSAIDs inhibit prostaglandins
What are the two ways nociceptors transmit info to the CNS? Briefly describe each
1) A-delta fibers: fast pain pathway
2) C fibers: slow pain pathway
What fibers are the fast pain pathway?
A-delta fibers
1) What are A-delta fibers?
2) How fast are they? Are they myelinated or unmyelinated?
3) What receptors use these?
1) Fast pain fibers
2) 30m/s (myelinated)
3) Mechanical and thermal pain receptors
1) What are C fibers?
2) How fast are they? Are they myelinated or unmyelinated?
3) What do they involve?
1) Slow pain pathway
2) 12m/s (unmyelinated)
3) Bradykinin
1) What is bradykinin?
2) What does it do?
1) A normally inactive substance activated in the ECF by tissue damage
2) Causes pain, contributes to inflammatory response
What are the two best known neurotransmitters for pain?
1) Substance P
2) Glutamate
1) Is substance P unique?
2) What does it do?
1) Yes; unique to pain fibers
2) Activates ascending pathways to transmit pain signals for processing
What two things does glutamate bind to? Why?
1) Binds with AMPA receptors: to ultimately transmit pain signals
2) Binds with NMDA receptors: to sensitize injured area
Can chronic pain occur without tissue damage?
Yes
1) What causes chronic pain?
2) How does this happen?
1) Abnormal signaling of pain pathways
2) Neuronal response to pain becomes exaggerated and can lead to sensitive neurons even after tissue has healed
Define referred pain
Sensation of pain in a part of the body that is remote from the damaged tissue
Where is referred pain often seen? Why?
With visceral pain; bc chest and abdominal organs often have no sensory receptors except pain receptors
1) Define analgesic system; what 3 things does it descend from?
2) What does it do?
1) The descending pathway from periaqueductal gray matter, medulla, and reticular formation
2) Release enkalphin
What is enkalphin and what does it do?
An endogenous opioid that binds with opiate receptors, inhibiting substance P
What is periaqueductal gray matter?
Gray matter surrounding the cerebral aqueduct
Why is a conscious response to pain necessary?
So an organism can remove a noxious stimulus or remove itself from the environment to avoid further tissue damage
Give an example of subconscious pain response
Sitting for prolonged periods can cause tissue damage from lack of blood flow where the skin is compressed by the weight of the body (shifting weight)
What are the two divisions of the ANS? Describe each and where their fibers emerge
1) Sympathetic
-Responding to stress; fight or flight
-Fibers emerge from thoracic and lumbar regions of the spine
2) Parasympathetic
-Relaxed activities; rest and digest
-Fibers emerge from cranial and sacral regions
True or false: parasympathetic and sympathetic typically innervate same effector organs
True
What does the ANS consist of?
A two-neuron efferent pathway