Packback Discussion: Pain and Other Somatosenses

Pain perception differs from other somatosensory such as light touch and pressure. With pain perception includes nociception (this is the bodys reaction to pain). There are several processes that go on during nociception- contact with stimulus, reception, transmission, and pain center reception. Nociceptors sense pain through different endings than other somatosensory, Nociceptors sense pain through free nerve endings rather than specialized endings such as those in neurons that sense touch or pressure (Freudenrich, 2020, p. 2). Another difference is that nociceptors are either myelinated very lightly or not myelinated at all, and also are much slower than other sensory neurons (Freudenrich, 2020). 

Interestingly, many scientists have concluded that the brain likely impacts pain perception. For example, if you dont think about the area of your body that is hurting, youre likely to feel less pain. There are also many placebo experiments done where the results end in the subject feeling less pain after receiving a placebo; simply believing you are taking something to help manage your pain, manages your pain. This shows how there is a psychological impact on pain perception (Freudenrich, 2020).