Pain

Abstract

Pain is a complex experience that includes not only the sensations evoked by tissue-damaging or noxious stimuli but also the reactions or responses to such stimuli. Pain sensations refer to our capacity to discriminate the quality (e.g., burning, pricking) of a noxious stimulus as well as its location, intensity, and duration. Our reactions to these sensations vary from individual to individual and involve reflexive and more integrative motor responses. In addition, attentional, cognitive, motivational, and emotional variables modify behaviors elicited by noxious stimuli. The concept of the multidimensionality of the pain experience has evolved from the ideas and experiments of many investigators. Explicit recognition should be given to Beecher (1959), Melzack and Wall (1965), and Melzack (1973).