The sensation of pain is critical for the survival of animals and humans. However, the brain mechanisms underlying pain perception remain largely unknown. How does the brain decode the pain-evoked activity into a particular sensory experience? Over the past decade, attempts have been made to answer these questions by employing electrophysiological, functional brain imaging, and behavioral approaches, and some basic properties of pain formation have been revealed. Researchers have gradually recognized that there exists a distributed neural network that participates in the transmission and processing of pain information. These studies will further guide the development of more effective treatment for many disorders such as chronic pain.
痛觉对于人类和动物的生存具有重要意义, 但其脑机制长期不明。 大脑如何解码痛觉诱发活动, 并最终形成对于疼痛的知觉经验? 在过去10 年间, 人们综合运用电生理、 脑功能成像以及行为学手段开展了大量研究, 试图回答这一问题。 这些研究已经开始揭示疼痛形成的一些基本特征。 人们逐渐认识到, 参与痛觉信息传递和处理的是一个庞大的分布式神经网络。 这些研究对于促进慢性疼痛新疗法的出现具有重要意义。